National Games 2022: Long Jumper Jeswin Aldrin becomes the third Indian to book a World Championships 2023 berth

On October 1, 2022, Jeswin Aldrin became the third Indian athlete after Neeraj Chopra and Avinash Sable to qualify for the World Championships 2023 to be held in Budapest, Hungary. Jeswin jumped a massive 8.26m at the ongoing National Games 2022 to clinch the gold and book a ticket to Budapest. Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 silver medalist Murali Sreeshankar suffered a hamstring injury during the event as a result of which he gave up his remaining four attempts. His best jump on his first effort of 7.93m fetched him a silver medal in the competition. Muhammed Anees Yahiya who narrowly missed out on a medal in the CWG 2022 secured the bronze medal with a jump of 7.92m.

2022 was a roller-coaster for young Jeswin. His best jump of 8.37m (+4.1 wind assistance) at the Federation Cup in March helped him to qualify for the World Championships and met the qualification standards for the Commonwealth Games. However, due to a dip in his form, he was not allowed to compete at the Commonwealth Games 2022 by the Athletics Federation of India. But, the federation let him represent the country at the Worlds where he was far below his best, securing a jump of 7.78m. However, he showed a different game altogether at the 36th edition of the games. 

Jeswin Aldrin dominated the event with three leaps of more than eight meters. The 20-year-old jumper broke the 8.25m automatic qualification mark established for the World Athletics Championships 2023 by recording 8.26m on his sixth and final attempt. His subsequent best leaps were 8.21m in the third attempt and 8.07m in the fourth attempt. Jeswin has been in rock-solid form lately, with a fourth finish in the Luzern meet and a victory at the recently held Golden Fly Series on September 11 with an 8.12m jump.

Read more: Athletics, National Games 2022: LIVE Streaming, When and Where to Watch, Schedule

Results from the day two of the Athletics events

Men

100m: 1. Amlan Borgohain (Assam) 10.38s, 2. VK Elakiyadsasan (Tamil Nadu) 10.44, 3. B Siva Kumar (Tamil Nadu) 10.48

400m: 1. Muhammed Ajmal (Services) 46.29 seconds (National Games record, 2. Rajesh Ramesh (Tamil Nadu) 46.45, 3. Amoj Jacob (Delhi) 46.62

Long Jump: 1. Jeswin Aldrin (Tamil Nadu) 8.26m (National Games Record), 2. M Sreeshankar (Kerala) 7.93, 3. Muhammed Anees Yahiya (Kerala) 7.92

5000m:  1. Abhishek Pal (Uttar Pradesh) 14:07.25, 2. Kartik Kumar (Services) 14:08.24, 3. Sawan Barwal (Services) 14:10.53

Shot Put: 1. Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Services) 20.75m (National Games record), 2. Karanveer Singh (Punjab) 19.17, 3. Inderjeet Singh (Haryana) 18.64

4x100m Relay: 1. Tamil Nadu 40.01 seconds, 2. Kerala 40.45, 3. Maharashtra 40.67

Women

100m: 1. Jyothi Yarraji (Andhra Pradesh) 11.51 seconds, 2. Archana Suseendran (Tamil Nadu) 11.55, 3. Diandra Valladares (Maharashtra) 11.62

400m: 1. Aishwarya Kailash Mishra (Maharashtra) 52.62 seconds, 2. Dandi Jyothikasri (Andhra Pradesh) 53.30, 3. Rupal Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 53.41

5000m: 1. Parul Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 16:34.68, 2. Seema (Himachal Pradesh) 16:36.18, 3. Sanjivani Jadhav (Maharashtra) 16:39.97

Pole Vault: 1. Rosy Meena Paulraj (Tamil Nadu) 4.20m (New National and National Games record, 2.  Pavitha Vengatesh (Tamil Nadu) 4.00, 3. Baranica Elangovan (Tamil Nadu) 3.90

Discus Throw: 1. Nidhi Rani (Haryana) 51.65m, 2. Neetika Verma (Uttar Pradesh) 51.58, 3. Paramjot Kaur (Punjab) 51.28

4x100m relay: 1. Kerala 45.52 seconds, 2. Tamil Nadu 45.54, 3. Madhya Pradesh 46.03