Ancy Sojan speaks on Thursday at the press conference ahead of the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meet to be held at the Kalinga Stadium here on Saturday, August 22, 2026.
| Photo Credit: x@sports_odisha

Ancy Sojan, having eclipsed Anju Bobby George’s 22-year-old National mark of 6.83m set at the 2004 Athens Olympics, has a clear target: the Asian Games gold in Aichi-Nagoya in September this year.

“I want to bring the gold medal with a high class jump. I am aiming for the Asian Games record also so that I can directly qualify for the World championship next year. 6.86m is the qualification mark (for the Worlds) and the qualifying period will start from August 23,” said Ancy, who clinched a silver medal at the last Asian Games in 2023 with a jump of 6.63m. She is now the Asian season leader, thanks to her effort of 6.88m at the National inter-State athletics meet in Bhubaneswar recently

On her exceptional performance in hot and humid conditions, Ancy — who had recorded her personal best of 6.75m at the Federation meet in Ranchi in May — said, “I came here to do my personal best and be a good world class performer. I didn’t aim for the National Record.”

She was relieved with the breakthrough. “Finally it happened, I felt like I was getting tired but I remembered ‘What if I go to represent our country and if I feel tired?’ Suddenly, I remembered my last Asian Games and I got a boost. With all the belief, I took a good breath and jumped, it happened.”

She’s happy with the progress but wants more. “I am so happy that I am improving. I think, let’s aim higher than this.

An experiment

“Mentally and physically it’s like an experiment. You get tired but still you have to jump because you train for that. I want the energy, after 10 jumps I want to stay the same. Each and every training session I am thinking about the target I want to achieve, so that it helps me push more. Today I thought I was competing in the Asian Games and I felt that someone could beat me, so I needed to grab the medal for our nation. Suddenly it encouraged me, it’s fun.”

For Ancy, the record-breaking jump, which pushed her to seventh place among world leaders this season, sent a message. “This is a statement that India also has good jumpers, if someone works hard she can achieve it. Just believe in yourself, be patient and be dedicated to our work. People will say things but never mind, be true to yourself. I do the same.”

The build-up to her remarkable performance in Bhubaneswar started after the Ranchi meet. “After that (Ranchi), I trained hard the same way. Every training I just aimed at what I wanted to be… focusing on technique, run-up and fitness. Each session I pushed hard, I just stuck to my plan.

“Lots of people asked me why you didn’t push for the Commonwealth Games qualification. I knew this jump was not easy, so I needed more time for training. I just focused on training only, so I could get there. This was the only (qualifying) competition for the Asian Games. I worked hard and finally got a good result. We had a good plan, God helped us.”

The record wasn’t Ancy’s target. “I was not chasing the record actually. I didn’t have any records in my name at the National level. I wanted to do my personal best and a world class jump. Because I am aiming to compete at the international level. I see their enthusiasm. I had competed before in my first Commonwealth (in 2022 and did 6.25m). I was a beginner and I saw people jumping. It was like literally enraged me, their speed and ability. So I felt like I could also do the same. If I want to be like them, I need to jump like them. I aim to become a world-class jumper. I want to keep improving. I want to be consistent with that.”

The competition had tense moments. “Before my first jump, I was under a little bit of pressure, I wanted to be safe. But the first jump I did in my lifetime, 7m-plus jump. I was so happy and tension-free. In between, there were some fouls and minor issues. Then I was a little tired, so I went to my coach (Anoop Joseph), because I felt some stomach issues. He said, ‘Nothing, you are okay.’ It charged me up, suddenly I got goosebumps and my eyes got wet.

“I then remembered a scene… I was watching a reel of the film on Milkha Singh. He is wearing the India blazer and is asked ‘Who told you to wear this?’ And he says, ‘I am just trying this.’ Suddenly the coach comes and hits him and says, ‘If you want to wear the Indian jersey, you have to beat him (your opponent). His coach insisted, ‘Tell him you have to beat him.’ Finally Milkha says, ‘Yes.’ It really inspired me. The same thing I tell myself, you have to beat that. And finally the moment happened.”

A legend

For Ancy, her senior Kerala Statemate Anju remains an inspiration. “I knew Anju ma’am had a huge jump, 6.83m. She struggled a lot (to reach there). She is a legend. I am aiming to be like her, I want to become a world class jumper.

“I want to say that ma’am is truly an inspiration. I recently read that she has one kidney and her story inspired me a lot. I saw her jump several times and I knew how hard she trained for that also. I hope ma’am is happy about this and would support me.”

Ancy looked back at the hormonal issues that had held her back last year. “I had some hormonal issues, I was not able to get fit like this. This year I sacrificed a lot of food and decided that I wanted to become a world class jumper. Even my coach reminded me, ‘If you sacrifice and be dedicated, you will get the result. If you want to jump like a top performer, you will have to train like that.’ So if I feel tired during training, I say, ‘You have to do it.’ It helps me to push harder and train.

“I am mentally more stable than before. The experience, the difficulties and the obstacles have made me stronger. And God is helping me. I never thought it would happen. I was missing the mark narrowly because of some mistakes. But finally it happened.”

Disciplined lifestyle

Ancy doesn’t regret maintaining a disciplined lifestyle. “I love to eat a lot of food. But I remember why I am here. I tell myself, ‘First you achieve your goal, then eat.’ All the sacrifices including social media, food, whatever, will get you the result.

“I reduced my food quantity because of the hormonal issues as I used to put on weight. It is very hard to jump with a lot of weight. Last year I struggled with that. This year my diet is good. I started early, took time and prepared very well. I followed my coach’s advice. I got the result. Now I am 55kg. Before this, it was 63kg. Now my body fat is 13% after coming down from 26%.”

Ancy rides on her renewed confidence as she approaches the Asian Games. “This year I want to bring gold and hear the National anthem of India. I love biryani and rice. Now I completely avoid that. Maybe, I will have that after the Asian Games,” she said.

Published – July 06, 2026 01:06 am IST

Even as cut-throat competition gives elite athletics meets an elevated status, tales of camaraderie pleasantly break the monotony by adding a human element to them.

Enduring visuals of Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi sharing the men’s high jump gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Belgian steeplechaser Tim Van de Velde sacrificing his own position to help Colombia’s Carlos San Martin finish the race at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, and Robson De Oliveira and Aaron Beggs carrying an exhausted Ajay Haridasse over the line at this year’s Boston Marathon evoked impromptu appreciation from spectators in recent times.

Tight contests, tight bonds

However, such instances are not restricted to international athletics alone. Top-level competitions in India have also seen fine examples of keen contests and close companionship. The recently held Federation meet at Birsa Munda Stadium, Morabadi, Ranchi, featured high-level performances as well as excellent displays of comradeship among athletes.

The close duel between female long jumpers Ancy Sojan and Shaili Singh, the intense rivalry between national record holder Gurindervir Singh and Animesh Kujur in the men’s 100m, and the battle of one-upmanship between training partners and eventual joint national record holders Dev Meena and Kuldeep Kumar in the men’s pole vault do not necessarily mean they are bitter opponents off the field. Rather, they offer exceptional case studies of bonding between athletes.

For Ancy, who wholeheartedly cheered for her closest competitor Shaili in the background prior to the latter’s attempts, rivalry is not equivalent to enmity.

“I don’t consider my competitors as enemies. I just see them as friends. I always cheer for them. Because they are focused, they also try hard. So I wanted to motivate Shaili and help her do her best. That’s why I cheer for her. It is a good thing to cheer for your rivals,” says Ancy, who won the event.

Gurindervir is delighted that his mouthwatering showdowns on the track with Kujur, which are built on a strong foundation of brotherhood, bring eyeballs to athletics.

“I have been waiting for this for a long time. Our sport, sprinting, and athletics should get visibility. Every person enjoys watching a rivalry. When Animesh runs well, I feel that I have to run better. I have to do more hard training. When I run well, Animesh feels that he has to train even harder. We get motivation from each other,” says Gurindervir, who became the first Indian to go below 10.10 seconds when he won gold.

“We are good friends. We are room-mates. We are brothers. We are competitors. When we train, we are training partners. When we go out, we are friends.”

Gurindervir’s coach James Hillier feels such healthy competition — the national record changed hands twice in the semifinals before Gurindervir’s historic 10.09s run in the final — augurs well for sprinting in the country.

“It’s a great rivalry, and in a way it probably helped Gurindervir that Animesh broke the record [10.17] in the semifinals [clocking 10.15 within minutes of Gurindervir breaking Kujur’s previous record of 10.18]. It took a bit of the limelight off him and the pressure was sort of back on Animesh. It’s really bringing Indian sprinting down [in terms of time],” says Hillier.

Coming from the same stable, Madhya Pradesh Athletics Academy (MPAA), pole vaulters Meena and Kuldeep are brothers in arms. They train together under coach Ghanshyam Yadav, carry their poles and travel together while challenging each other to the best of their ability. Ultimately, the success one achieves makes the other happy, as they believe their teamwork will help them attain excellence. Coincidentally, the two were tied at 5.45m and shared the new national record at Ranchi.

“We will continue to fight with each other so that we can raise the level,” says Meena.

Kuldeep, who joined the MPAA a year ago, was welcomed by the already established Meena, as he saw that pushing the mark alone was a difficult task for him.

Victory through harmony

“We will do better in the future. It is a very technical sport. We are working on it. We are learning more and more with each passing day. If we learn and improve, it will be very good for both of us. We fight during our training. We fight during competitions. We support each other. We go ahead of each other. We are good friends. We should work to bring laurels for the country,” says Kuldeep.

While complementing each other, they have no hesitation in appreciating each other’s strengths.

“Dev’s technique is good. I think his competition mindset is good. I won’t say mine is bad either. I give him a good fight,” says Kuldeep.

“Kuldeep has a powerful body. I have got speed,” notes Meena.

Their coach Ghanshyam Yadav loves his two obedient trainees. “They are training together and competing with each other. Their communication with me is very good. If you say something to them, they will listen to you. They are training together and using the same pole,” says Yadav.

Acknowledging the media’s role in highlighting the plight of his wards while travelling with poles on a train in January and making their lives a little easier, Yadav dreams of guiding Meena and Kuldeep to greater glory and transforming pole vault into a well-known sport in India.

“We are trying to take the pole vault to a new height. Like Neeraj Chopra, who highlighted javelin by shining at the Olympics, we also want to take pole vault to that level,” says Yadav.

If the Federation meet was full of high-class performances and great camaraderie, it also had an aberration in the form of an undesirable feud between 40-year-old Olympian Sandeep Kumar and 18-year-old promising athlete Nitin Gupta in the men’s 10,000m racewalk.

After Gupta won the race comfortably, beating second-placed Sandeep, the two Army athletes, who train under different coaches, exchanged pleasantries and posed for photographs.

However, in a behind-the-scenes tussle for success, Sandeep filed a complaint against Gupta for receiving assistance from fellow competitors during the race. In the end, Gupta was disqualified for breaching World Athletics technical rules and Sandeep was crowned champion.

While different coaches present at the venue had varied opinions about the episode, it exposed intra-departmental competitiveness which not only created an unfriendly environment but also ended up being a disheartening experience for an emerging talent.

Of course, one can draw parallels to such incidents of bitter rivalry in international athletics over the decades, including Sebastian Coe versus Steve Ovett at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and Mary Decker versus Zola Budd at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Grace under pressure

No matter how much athletes push themselves to the limit and put their composure through stern tests, instances of companionship, a genuine emotion prevailing in humanity, will always outnumber examples of bitter competitiveness not only in track and field but also in sport at large.

As the 2026 calendar gears up for more intensity, with events such as the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games promising top-class action, one can only hope to see an atmosphere of fellowship in a world divided by conflicts.

Ancy is yet to achieve the Commonwealth Games qualification mark of 6.84m.
| Photo Credit: C. Suresh Kumar

Ancy Sojan E of Navy won the women’s long jump gold in the 29th National Senior Athletics Federation Competition 2026 at the Birsa Munda stadium in Ranchi on Friday, 22 May 2026.
| Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR