Mason’s daughter, who practised with hay sacks and bamboo sticks, is India’s most promising high jumper

Father Hansraj, who says he has absolutely no idea about the sport, is not only extremely proud of his daughter’s achievements but also in awe of her ability. “I just keep asking her how she does it. Khade khade mere sir ke upar se taap jayegi ye toh (She can just leap over my head easily). It amazes me how she achieves
that much height,” says Hansraj, who works almost 10 hours a day for a meagre daily wage of Rs 500.

Pooja’s coach Balwan Patra is probably the best person to answer Hansraj’s innocent question. Patra, who runs an academy in a neighbouring village with 30-odd students, has been working with Pooja since 2017.

“It is her explosiveness that helps us get so much height,” said Balwan. When Pooja first walked into the academy with her father, she just wanted to learn yoga. But during general physical tests, Balwan noticed she had a lot of strength in the lower half, especially her calves. The school physical education teacher felt high jump was her calling and was eager to give Pooja a trial, but there was a big hurdle.

Pooja has been training with coach Balwan Patra since 2017.

“We didn’t have a jumping pit. Humne kuchh jugaad kiya (We just came up with a workable idea). We got hay from the fields nearby and stitched them in sacks. We used a bamboo stick as a bar. That is where she learnt the basics of jumping,” he said.

Pooja had to make do with “jugaad” for almost a year until Patra’s friend, also a well-known javelin coach, Hanuman gifted them a rundown landing pit. The bamboo bar still remains. “Usually when you hit the bar while jumping, it falls off. But in our set-up, the whole unit comes down,” Patra says in a lighter vein as the other trainees at the academy burst into laughter.

Fast learner

Pooja’s strength also lies in her ability to grasp matters quickly. She was just around 12 when she was introduced to the standard Fosbury Flop. Most young jumpers begin with the standard scissor jump but take a long while to learn the Fosbury Flop.

“It took her just three months and she was landing the jumps,” said Patra, who was an 800m runner during his time as an active athlete.

During age-group competitions a few years ago, she faced a peculiar challenge. The federation did not allow junior jumpers to use the Fosbury technique since it is risk-fraught. “If you land awkwardly on the neck, you can get injured,” said Pooja. So she came up with her own unique technique: she leapt using the scissor method but landed with the Fosbury technique.

Pooja began her high jump journey on a makeshift setup where the landing pit was made out of sacks of hay.

During last month’s preparatory national camp in Bengaluru, Sahana Kumari, whose national senior high jump record has remained untouched for over a decade, had a good look at Pooja. The Sports Authority of India coach was so impressed by her explosiveness and work ethic that she is ready to put her money on the teenager breaking her 1.92m record.

“The height which she is getting at this age with just five strides is unmatchable. Elite women athletes take 8-10 strides, which gives them more velocity in the run-up. I spoke to Pooja and told her that she should gradually move to the standard 8-10 strides that will really boost her jumps,” said Sahana, who set the 1.92m mark back in 2012.

The South Asian Games champion feels that if Pooja trains scientifically without injuries, the national record is just a matter of time. “I would be the happiest to see my record get broken. It shouldn’t have stood for long. Pooja has this natural talent and hunger to do well. She might not like the workout part, but ask her to jump as many times as you like, she won’t complain. If she continues like this, she can easily go beyond my record,” said Sahana.