Ancy Sojan pipped in the last attempt, wins long jump silver

From Nattika, a small fishing village in Kerala, to the Asian Games podium, Ancy Sojan has continued the journey Anju Bobby George once told her she was ready for.

When Sojan broke George’s 22-year-old national record in June, the long jump legend told her, “After 22 years, I am passing the baton to you. Now it’s your turn to perform on global stages and bring back more medals for India.”

Sojan added another major medal – a silver – to her collection on Sunday, winning silver in the women’s long jump at the Asian Games, following the silver she won in Hangzhou in 2023.

Sojan was the picture of calm, beaming between jumps with zero visible nerves. Always one to embrace a fun, colourful aesthetic with her hair accessories, she happily showed off her painted nails right before her attempts.

Her first attempt measured 6.49m, followed by a foul, before she recorded 6.46m and 6.31m on her third and fourth attempts. A brilliant 6.53m in the fifth put her in contention for gold, but Chinese jumper Yingying Huang moved ahead with a 6.55m on her final attempt. Sojan settled for silver.

It was a close finish, but the medal capped a breakthrough season for Sojan, who operated on another plane in 2026. In June, she leapt 6.88m at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, breaking the Indian record of 6.83m that had stood in George’s name for 22 years. For Sojan, breaking that mark carried an emotional weight beyond the number.

“It meant a lot to me because it was a 22-year-old record. Anju ma’am is a legend. I’ve followed her journey in magazines and viewed her as a wonder woman. Coming into this career and achieving that mark feels incredible,” she told HT before heading to Japan. “Her 2004 jump was world-class, so I am really proud and happy. A lot of hard work and sacrifice went into this.”

Long jump was not even the obvious destination when Sojan began athletics. She started as a sprinter and competed in both long jump and triple jump, gradually moving through the ranks without knowing where the sport might take her.

“I never imagined I’d become a long jumper representing India at this level, nor did I know about national records back then,” she said. “I just kept winning and took things step-by-step: sub-district, district, state records, national champion, and then international competitions.”

Her progress since the Hangzhou Asian Games has been particularly striking. The domestic rivalry has been an important part of that rise. Shaili Singh, coached by Robert Bobby George and mentored by Anju, has pushed Sojan, giving Indian women’s long jump a competitive edge at home.

But while the performances have climbed, Sojan has also had to contend with the noise around them.

“Despite that, people still leave negative comments on my posts and reels. It made me sad because they don’t see the hard work behind it,” she said.

Now, Sojan has another Asian Games medal to show for her progress. The baton George spoke of passing on in June has already taken Sojan to another major podium, with the 25-year-old continuing to build her own place in Indian long jump.

It was a similarly tight finish for Shaili, who missed out on the podium after recording her best jump at 6.42 in the fifth attempt, after China’s Mengyi Tang recorded 6.46m with her final attempt.