"More The Pressure, Better I Do": Long Jumper Shahnavaz Khan Targets Asian Games Medal
A World Athletics U20 Championships medal in his kitty, young long jumper Shahnavaz Khan is aiming for a podium finish in the upcoming Asian Games in Japan, where he is hoping to improve upon his personal best.
A World Athletics U20 Championships medal in his kitty, young long jumper Shahnavaz Khan is aiming for a podium finish in the upcoming Asian Games in Japan, where he is hoping to improve upon his personal best. The 18-year-old Shahnavaz became the first Indian long jumper to win a medal at the World Athletics U20 Championships with a bronze in Eugene, USA, last week with an effort of 7.84m. It was far from his personal best of 8.30m which he had recorded earlier this year. He said a cramp on his left calf muscles had affected his porformance.
"Normally, more the pressure, the better I do in a competition. But in Eugene, after the third jump, I started getting cramps. Then I couldn't do it. It was cramp on muscles. This is the first time happening. I don't understand anything," Shahnavaz told PTI in an interaction facilitated by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
"There was a little pain in the heel, so both the heel (pain) and cramp." He, however, said it's a minor issue and will be sorted soon. He said will be able to feature in the invitational Indian Athletics Final Series on September 10 in New Delhi, where most of the Japan Asian Games-bound athletes are expected to participate.
"It is not a big issue. It will be all right," he said.
On his target in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September-October, Shahnavaz said, "My aim to better my PB of 8.30m and win a medal." Shahnavaz also said senior long jumper Murali Sreeshankar helps him and rectifies his mistakes as they train at the same place.
He hails from Madhaipur village in Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. His late father Naseemudin, who worked as a taxi driver, died of cancer in 2018 when he was 10 years old. But his uncles, who were national level athletes, stepped in to guide him.
Shahnavaz is one of the most promising long jumpers in the country with Commonwealth Games silver medallist Sreeshankar showering high praise on the youngster.
He is the current national U20 record holder (8.30m) and reigning Asian U20 champion.
He is currently third in the Asian senior top list of the season with his 8.30m jump while finishing behind Sreeshankar (8.38m) at the National Inter-State Championships in June. He won gold at the Asian U20 Championships in May with a jump of 7.84m.
In the last four months, he has improved his personal best from 8.23m to 8.30m.
At such a young age, his personal best (8.30m) is the all-time third among the Indians (seniors) behind Jeswin Aldrin (8.42m) and Sreeshankar (8.41m). He has also breached the 2026 Asian Games qualification mark set by the Athletics Federation of India.
High jumper Basant rues missing gold ======================== Basant Kumar Meghwal, the reigning Asian U20 champion, cleared a personal-best of 2.21m to become the first Indian to win a silver in the men's high jump in the global U20 showpiece.
"I had in my mind that if I do 2.24m, I will win the gold medal. I tried my best, but I couldn't do it. As soon as the take-off started, my ankle was straining," said the 19-year-old.
All the three medallists could only clear 2.21m but failed all their three attempts to sail over 2.24m.
The positions were thus decided on countback based on the number of attempts to clear the previous height.
Algeria's eventual gold winner Younes Ayachi cleared 2.21m in his first jump, while Basant and Otis Poole of Great Britain did the same in their second and third attempts to win silver and bronze respectively.
"If I had done the same (cleared 2.21m) in the first attempt, both of us (Ayachi and Basant) would have got the gold medal," said Basant who is competing in the National Open in October.
Coached by former Indian women's high jump national record holder Sahana Kumari, Basant has made a remarkable 10cm improvement this season, raising his personal best from 2.11m to 2.21m. He won gold in the National Junior Fed Cup in 2025 and 2026, before bagging the Asian U20 Championships title in May this year.
Basant, currently employed with the Indian Navy, hails from village 12 A-B near the border town of Anupgarh in Sri Ganganagar district in Rajasthan. Villages in border areas of Rajasthan are named using colonial-era irrigation block numbering system.
His farmer father Gangaram Meghwal, who also doubles up as driver and daily wage labourer, was the main driving force for Basant to take up sports.
Interestingly, his athletics journey began in 2020 with a jump over a fence while bunking school. His village school's physical education teacher Iqbal Singh saw that and immediately called him to train in high jump. He was at sports academy at Sri Ganganagar before shifting base at the NCOE Bengaluru in April 2024.
"I am not too much interested in studies and so, I used to roam around when there is no class. It happened like that.
"It's also true that my father took loans and borrowed money from my relatives to finance my training, for my diet and equipment. It ran into a few lakhs," he said.
"But we are better now, after I got a job in Indian Navy last year (Kochi-based). We have repaid the loans," said Basant who is hoping to cross 2.27m-2.29m in the next one or two years. PTI PDS PDS TAP
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