Top five longest leaps by Indian women in long jump

Published at :September 2, 2024 at 10:07 PM

Modified at :September 2, 2024 at 10:25 PM

(Courtesy : @ddsportschannel/X)

Ancy Sojan achieved the third best jump by an Indian at National Open Athletics.

Kerala’s Nayana James rewrote the record books with the third biggest leap by an Indian woman at Indian Open Jumps competition in March 2024. The 28-year-old leapt 6.67m to clinch the gold medal in the event ahead of home favourite Shaili Singh, who is second in Indian all-time chart.

Shaili holds the record for the second-best jump after Anju Bobby George in all-time India records. She achieved the feat en route to winning the women’s long jump gold at the Indian Grand Prix 4 Athletics event in Bengaluru in 2023. Anju, bronze medallist at the 2003 World Championships, holds the national record (6.83m) in the long jump, which she created at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

India has been making steady progress in horizontal jumps (both men’s and women’s) for the past few years. Shaili Singh from Uttar Pradesh has taken the mantle in the women’s section and after an injury driven 2022 season, she is back with a bang.

In this article let us discuss the top five longest jumps in women’s long jump from India.

Biggest women’s long jump in Indian history

5. JJ Shobha and Varakil Neena (6.66m)

Javur Jagadeeshappa Shobha and Varakil Neena jointly hold the fourth spot clocking 6.66m. The latter achieved her personal best mark at an event held in Bangalore in 2016. Her major achievement came in 2018 when she won the silver medal (6.51m) at the Jakarta Asian Games.

JJ Shobha achieved her personal best mark at the Chennai National circuit meet in 2004. Apart from being a long jumper, she is best known for her heroics at the Athens Olympics. Shobha completed the heptathlon event despite being injured in the penultimate event (Javelin throw).

She had to be carried off the field but returned soon with a tightly strapped left ankle and finished third in the final event (800m) – finishing eleventh overall with 6172 points. The Keralite holds the national record in heptathlon (6211 points).

4. Nayana James (6.67m)

Kerala’s Nayana achieved the feat at the 3rd Indian Open Jumps competition in Bengaluru. Having started the event with a foul, she produced a season best 6.67m to clinch the gold medal in the event and also leap into Indian long jump record books.

With that spectacular jump, Nayana improved her personal best by 17cm going from a previous best of 6.55m to the third best jump by an Indian woman in long jump history. The 2017 Asian Championships bronze medallist has been in good form and also clinched the silver medal at the 37th National Games in Goa last year.

3. Ancy Sojan (6.71m)

Services athlete Ancy Sojan soared to victory in the women’s long jump at the National Open Athletics Championships, clinching gold with a personal best of 6.71 meters (22 feet). Her impressive performance earned her the title of best female athlete at the event.

Throughout the competition, Sojan showed remarkable consistency and improvement. Starting with an initial jump of 6.35 meters, she steadily increased her distance with each attempt. Her second and third jumps measured 6.43 and 6.63 meters, respectively. After a slight dip to 6.61 meters on her fourth attempt, Sojan achieved her winning jump of 6.71 meters on her fifth try. She finished the event with a solid 6.54-meter jump.

2. Shaili Singh (6.76m)

U-20 World Championships 2020 silver medallist, Shaili Singh jumped 6.76m at Indian Grand Prix 4 athletics meet to enter the record books. Her effort is just 0.07m behind her mentor Anju Bobby George, who holds the record for the longest jump in the all-time Indian women’s long jump history.

A leap into history books for young Shaili Singh! 🔥With a stunning 6.76m effort, she has moved to 2nd place in the all-time Indian women's long jump list. 🤯#Athletics #LongJump pic.twitter.com/qUwnuamvsS
— Khel Now (@KhelNow) April 15, 2023

This was a remarkable comeback for Shaili Singh, who struggled with injuries after winning the silver medal in 2021 and found it hard to make a comeback in the following year. She started the 2023 season participating at the Asian Indoor Championships. At the 2023 Indian Grand Prix 4, she jumped 6.76m to set a new Personal Best and also breached the Asian Games 2022 qualifying mark set by AFI.

However, Shaili fell short of meeting the World Championships qualification mark. The qualification mark for World Athletic Championships is 6.85m and to achieve it Shaili would have to break the national record in the upcoming tournaments (Federation Cup and National Inter states athletics meet).

1. Anju Bobby George (6.83m)

Anju Bobby George created a national record (6.83) at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and stood fifth in the overall rankings. The Keralite made history when she won the bronze medal in Long Jump at the World Championships in 2003, Paris. With this achievement, she became the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal in a World Championships jumping 6.70m. Anju’s PB in Triple Jump stands at 13.67m, created in 2002.

Notable Inclusion

M Prajusha and Ancy Sojan (6.55m)

23-year-old Ancy Sojan has been making good progress in Long Jump for the past few seasons. She created a personal best mark of 6.55m at the Indian Grand Prix in 2022 with a headwind reading -0.5m/s. The youngster has crossed the 6.50m mark twice and has good potential to jump further.

Prajusha became only the fourth Indian woman to cross the 6.50m mark and also created a national record in triple jump jumping at 13.72m at the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

Aishwarya Babu (6.73m) – Banned

Aishwarya Babu entered the record books with an effort of 6.73m at the National Inter States Athletics Meet in 2022. She created a national record and became the second athlete to breach the 14m in Triple Jump after Mayookha Johny clocked 14.14m. However, the Karnataka athlete tested positive immediately after the event and was banned for four years.

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