Nayana James Shines at Indian Open Jumps Competition

In the women’s long jump event at the 3rd Indian Open Jumps Competition, Nayana James from Kerala recorded a personal best mark of 6.67m to secure the gold medal.

Standout Performance

• Nayana’s leap of 6.67m came nearly seven years after her previous personal best of 6.55m.
• Her jump stood out as no athlete threatened the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification mark on the day.
• National jumps coach Denis Kapustin termed it the “best jumps result” in recent times.

Challenging the Records

• Nayana’s distance was 16cms off Anju Bobby George’s National record and 19cms behind the Paris mark.
• The 28-year-old left the fancied Shaili Singh trailing, who could only manage 6.40m.

Other Standout Performances

• In women’s pole vault, Tamil Nadu’s 22-year-old Pavithra Venkatesh scaled a personal high of 4.15m, a sweet result for the 2023 Asian indoor silver medallist.
• In men’s triple jump, Commonwealth Games silver medallist Abdulla Aboobacker took gold (16.76m), followed by CWG gold medallist Eldhose Paul (16.45m) and Tamil Nadu’s Selva Prabhu (16.32m).

Top Finishers

Men’s Events:

• High Jump: 1. Jesse Sandesh (Kar) 2.20m
• Long Jump: 1. Muhammed Anees Yahiya (Ker) 7.94m
• Pole Vault: 1. M. Gowtham (TN) 5.10m

Women’s Events:

• High Jump: 1. Athira Somaraj (Ker) 1.76m
• Triple Jump: 1. Poorva Hitesh Sawant (Mah) 13.31m

The Indian Open Jumps Competition showcased the talent and determination of Indian athletes, with Nayana James’s personal best performance in the women’s long jump event being the highlight of the day.