Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulates Sarvesh Kushare on national record, Asian Games qualification
Bhubaneswar, June 28
Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated the Indian high jumper Sarvesh Kushare after he set a new Indian national high jump record by clearing 2.31m at the 2026 National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar on Saturday, surpassing Tejaswin Shankar's eight-year-old mark of 2.29m, as per Olympics.com.
In a post on X, Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated Kushare for setting a new men's high jump national record and qualifying for the 2026 Asian Games.
"A milestone leap for Indian athletics! Congratulations to Sarvesh Anil Kushare on setting a new National Record of 2.31m in the Men's High Jump and securing his qualification for the 2026 Asian Games," he said in an X post.
In another milestone moment for Indian athletics, Keralam long-jumper Ancy Sojan made history, smashing the 22-year-old national record in the discipline owned by legendary Anju Bobby George during the National Inter-State Athletics Championships on Saturday.
In the long jump, Ancy, 25, made a sensational leap of 6.88 m, outdoing Anju's long-held national record of 6.83 m, which was made during the 2004 Athens Olympics, as per ESPN.
Notably, several athletes like Dev Meena (pole vault men's), Jyothi Yarraji (women's 100 m hurdles), Anushka Yadav (hammer throw women's), and Mohammed Afsal (800 m men's) are among the athletes who have secured an Asian Games spot through their performances at the championships taking place from June 24 to 28 in Kalinga Stadium at Bhubaneswar.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Great to see the government recognizing these achievements. The sports minister's personal shout-out on X shows they're paying attention. But honestly, we need more grassroots support and better facilities. How many more Sarvesh and Ancy are out there without proper training grounds? Still, this is a fantastic step forward.
Anand for Indian sports! 🎉 Sarvesh and Ancy are rewriting history. And look at that list of Asian Games qualifiers—Dev Meena, Jyothi Yarraji, Anushka Yadav, Mohammed Afsal. The next generation is truly shining. More power to them and hope they bring back medals! #IndianAthletics #AsianGames2026
This is what happens when consistent hard work meets opportunity. Sarvesh Kushare's 2.31m is world-class, and Ancy Sojan's 6.88m long jump is seriously impressive. The fact that these records stood for years before being broken shows the talent depth now. Asian Games will be exciting with this lineup!
Please, can we stop celebrating so early? These records are great in domestic meets, but we've seen similar hype before, only to fall short at actual international events. Sarvesh and Ancy need sustained support—coaching, nutrition, exposure—to convert this into medals. Otherwise it's just more noise. Sorry for being a realist.
Incredible to see Indian athletics progressing. The 2.31m high jump is a serious benchmark—that's Olympic medal contention level
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