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Who is Selva Prabhu, India’s rising star in triple jump?

Selva Prabhu specializes in the triple jump event and is currently an athlete at JSW’s Inspire Institute of Sport in Ballari, Karnataka.

By Abhiruchi Rout | Jun 1, 2023 | 2 Min Read

The 18-year-old Selva Prabhu hogged the limelight after winning the gold medal in the men’s triple jump event at the Venizelia Chania International Meeting 2023. With this, he not only recorded his personal best jump of 16.78 m in the Greece meeting, but also established a new Indian junior record in the event. The previous record was held by the Asian Games 2018 gold medalist Arpinder Singh with a jump of 16.63m. During the event, he successfully completed three valid jumps, measuring 16.34m, 16.78m, and 16.25m respectively. Julian Konle from Australia took the second position with a jump of 16.60m, while local athlete Dimítrios Tsiamis claimed the third spot with an effort of 16.33m.

Selva Prabhu is among the rising stars of the country in Athletics. Selva Prabhu specializes in the triple jump event and is currently an athlete at JSW’s Inspire Institute of Sport in Ballari, Karnataka. His coach is Cuba’s Yoandri Betanzos, who is a two-time World Athletics Championships silver medalist in the sport. In addition, the Cuban coach had also claimed the gold medal at the Pan American Games in 2003. Prabhu hails from Madurai district’s Kodimangalam village and studied English Literature at the Bishop Heber College. Right now, he is training at the Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS), Karnataka.

Silver medal win at the World U20 Athletics Championships

Selva Prabhu etched his name in the annals of history by becoming the first Indian triple jumper to secure a medal at the World U20 Athletics Championships. His remarkable performance earned him a silver medal with a personal best jump of 16.15m in the 2022 World U20 Athletics Championships which took place in Cali, Colombia. He was bested only by Jayden Hibbert of Jamaica, who set a new championship record of 17.27m to claim the gold. Selva’s potential was evident when he qualified directly through the preliminary rounds.

How can Selva Prabhu make his place in the Asian Games squad?

With Selva Prabhu attaining a personal best of 16.78 m in the Greece meeting, he has already breached the qualification mark of 16.60 m which was set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for the delayed Asian Games 2022. This means that if any of the top triple jumpers of India like (Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medalist Eldhose Paul, silver medalist Abdulla Aboobacker, Karthik Unnikrishnan and Praveen Chithravel are absent, Selva will be included in the India’s squad for the Asian Games 2022. The Asian Games 2022 are scheduled to take place from September 23 to October 8, 2023.