Sahana Kumari Tears Of Joy Pooja High Jump National Record

Pooja, 19, steadied herself before attempting the 1.93m jump at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong on Friday. She visualised herself taking the strides and jumping and seconds later, executed all of it in a harmonic motion to break the 14-year-old national record. As she fell on the track shedding tears, in the background, Sahana Kumari couldn’t hold herself back either. The high jumper-turned-coach was constantly encouraging Pooja and the tears came out the moment she saw her own record being erased. “It is a special feeling. I had always said that Pooja is the kid who can break my national record and she has done it today. Honestly, I was not aware that it’s been 14 years since I set the record. I came to know when calls started coming. It's a feeling I can’t express in words,” Sahana told The Indian Express from Hong Kong. “I didn’t want to cry but couldn’t hold myself in joy. She came and hugged me and it was a good feeling.” Pooja, one of India’s brightest young athletes for the past two years, had been on the verge of breaking the national record for quite some time. In January, she had jumped 1.90m at the Indian Athletics Series in New Delhi, but her three attempts at the national record were unsuccessful there. “After a point, getting a new personal best is not easy. We have to go step by step. I believe the national record is near,” she had said then. This is the second time Pooja has gone past her personal best this season after breaching the 1.90m mark at the Indian Athletics Series, New Delhi in April. (Youtube Screengrab) Pooja's consistency has been remarkable and she is unbeaten at the national level in six competitions, while holding both the senior and junior Asian titles. According to Sahana, an early start to her athletics career and body coordination is the reason behind her meteoric rise and consistency. “She started at a young age. Her body is perfect for high jump with excellent coordination. It is very rare for a high jumper to have equal hand action and leg lift. These small things matter. With her progression, she has a good chance to go past the 2m mark,” explained Sahana. While Sahana was emotional seeing her national record erased by someone she has been advising constantly, Pooja’s coach Biran Sergey had another reason to be happy. “The competition record was held by my wife (Svetlana Radzivil) and it has been broken by my athlete,” Sergey told The Indian Express. Training under Sergey Pooja started training with Sergey, the husband and coach of the three-time Asian Games champion, this season. It has resulted in Pooja going beyond her personal best twice this year. “We are working step by step on technique, physical condition and confidence. She is very talented and disciplined, and most importantly, she trusts the process. A big role was also played by her first coach, who gave her the love for sport, the desire to work hard and the right attitude towards training,” Sergey said. He made a few technical adjustments that have been vindicated but feels that they need to stay calm and focus on the upcoming big tournaments. Also Read | Asian U20 Athletics C’ships: Pooja breaks 14-year-old high jump national record “We made some technical adjustments, but I don't want to go into details. We are working on many small things together — approach, rhythm, take-off and confidence in competition. We also pay a lot of attention to the last three steps before take-off,” he said. “Right now, the main thing is to stay calm, continue working and progress step by step. This year, there is the World Championships, where it is important to gain experience, but the main target is the Asian Games. We want to be in our best shape for it.” He also thanked the support system. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Athletics Federation of India, Olympic Gold Quest and Anju Bobby George Academy for their full support. I also want to thank Masoom, Neelam and Vasudev for being an important part of the team and their continuous support,” he said. Pooja’s consistent performances at the international level has also drawn praise from former greats of the game. Blanka Vlasic, two-time World champion and double Olympic medallist, had words of high praise. “Her progression is brilliant and she is just 19. She just needs to continue doing what she is doing. Once she perfects her technique, sky's the limit for a young athlete like her,” the Croat had told The Indian Express last month.