Bhubaneswar | Single-minded focus to become a world class long jumper, inspiration from the legendary Milkha Singh and a lot of sacrifice, including avoiding her 'favourite' biryani led to Ancy Sojan breaking a long-standing national record in Indian athletics.
The 25-year-old Ancy from Kerala obliterated the previous women's long jump national record of 6.83m which has been in the name of the legendary Anju Bobby George since 2004. She leaped a stunning 6.88m in her fifth attempt on the fourth day of the National Inter-State Championships here on Saturday.
She also bettered the Asian Games qualifying mark of 6.48m set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). She also became the season leader among Asian long jumpers. Her earlier personal best was 6.75m.
"My mental stability is better than before. It is helping me perform better. The difficulties and obstacles make me more stronger. And God is helping me.
"It's a lot of hard work and sacrifice for me. I want to keep improving and be consistent, become a world class jumper and I will do everything to become one. Every training session, I think about the target what I want to be (a world class jumper)," Ancy said about her feat.
"During the competition also, I was thinking that I am competing in the Asian Games, and I imagined that someone is going to beat me. So I need to grab the medal for our nation. So suddenly it encouraged me."
A particular scene from 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag', the 2013 biopic of the legendary sprinter Milkha Singh, inspired Ancy to bring glory to the country.
"I just remembered a scene from the Milkha Singh's film. He was wearing the coat (blazer) of India and someone came and asked him why he was wearing this. He replied it was just like that. Then his coach came and beat him and told him that 'if you want to wear the jersey, you have to beat him'. That really inspired me."
In the movie, Milkha wears an official Indian team blazer that he has not yet earned, gets caught by his coach, and is slapped as a lesson that the honour must be earned through hard work.
Asked what contributed to her national record, she said, "First thing is sacrifice. I love to eat a lot of food. But if I want to eat a lot of food, then I would ask myself 'Why are you here? Why you started sports? What do you want to become?
"Then why do you want to eat? First you achieve your goal, then eat. I suddenly remembered the words that hard work pays off. So, I sacrificed social media, food. I reduced my food intake because of the hormonal issues, weight gain.
"Last year I struggled with that. This year my diet was so good, I started early, took time and prepared very well. I obeyed my course rules and everything." She said she has reduced five kilograms from 60kg to 55kg over the course of the year. She has also reduced body fat to 13 per cent from earlier 26 per cent.
"My favourite food is Biryani Rice. Now I will completely avoid this. But, yes (after the Asian Games). I want to bring gold in the Asian Games and I know I can achieve that with this jump (of 6.88m). I want to hear the National Anthem in the stadium.
"I am also aiming for Asian Games record so that I can directly qualify for 2027 World Championships (6.86m is qualification mark)," said Ancy who won silver at the 2022 Asian Games with a jump of 6.63m.
Asked about the significance of her feat, she said, "This is proof that India also has good jumpers. If someone works hard, he or she can achieve it. Just believe in yourselves and be patient and be dedicated to your work. I want to tell this to the youngsters."
The diminutive but spunky Ancy thus brought down one of the most prestigious national records in an event which was synonymous with Anju, India's lone World Championships medallist who won a bronze in the 2003 edition.
"She (Anju) is a legend. I want to just say, ma'am has truly been an inspiration. She competed with one kidney...that inspired me a lot.
"I saw her jump several times and I know how hard she trained for that. I hope ma'am should be happy for this and she would support me."
Ancy said she was not running after national records and she came into Saturday's event with the aim of bettering her personal best.
"I came here to do my PB, not the national record, and (I) just wanted to be a good world-class jumper. But, finally it (national record) happened."
