World Athletics U20 Championships: Long Jumper Shaili Singh Wins Silver
Jhansi’s upcoming star Shaili Singh bagged a silver medal in women’s long jump at the ongoing World Athletics U20 Championships.
She started with two jumps of 6.34m. After three rounds, she emerged as the leader when she leapt to 6.59m. But Singh fell short by 1 cm of the gold medal jump by Sweden’s Maja Askag.
“I could have jumped farther than 6.59m and won the gold. My mother had told me about winning gold and the national anthem being sung in the stadium (but I could not do it),” an emotional Singh said after the race.
Singh’s was India’s third medal in this edition of World Athletics U20 Championships. Earlier, the mixed team in the 4x400m relay had won bronze and Amit Khatri won silver for 10,000m race walk.
India has won a total of four medals at the World Athletics Junior Championships including bronze medals for discus throwers Seema Antil (2002) and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon (2014) and gold medals for javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra (2016) and 400m runner Hima Das (2018).
National record-holder and senior World Championships bronze medallist Anju Bobby George expects Shaili to reach greater heights and win an Olympic medal for the country.
#ShailiSingh (1/3)
In 2017, Bobby and I came across a young girl from Jhansi. We scouted her later that year in the junior national competition and decided to induct her into the Anju Bobby Sports Foundation in 2018. pic.twitter.com/7PAQab34ve— Anju Bobby George (@anjubobbygeorg1) August 22, 2021
“She can improve on the national record (6.83 metres). Our main target for Shaili is to help her finish on the podium at the Olympic Games, which is the most valuable thing. If our trainee can win a medal, I will consider it as my own,” George said.
Also read: At 16, Race Walker Reshma Patel Breaks Two National Records in a Fortnight
(Edited by Amrita Ghosh)
