India’s Ancy Sojan led for a major part of the competition before settling for the silver medal in the women’s long jump competition at the Asian Games on Sunday. Ancy recorded a best jump of 6.53m to finish behind Huang Yingying of China, who produced a late 6.55m jump to snatch gold. There was, however, heartbreak for Ancy’s compatriot Shaili Singh, who missed out on a bronze medal in the women’s long jump final after China’s Mengyi Tan produced a 6.46m effort to move ahead of the Indian jumper.
Q: Would you say it’s a gold lost more than a silver won here? Then the Chinese athlete moved ahead of her and she lost it. I won several championships, best athlete awards, and three or four gold medals at school nationals and amateur meets.
Today, you know, we were travelling here from the squash venue after they also won two silvers, and all along we were tracking you. Fate decided that today I would have to settle for silver again. That’s why I’m here today.
Q: Ancy, many, many congratulations. What was going through your mind? But proudly, I can say I am a two-time Asian Games silver medallist. Ancy Sojan: I expected that both of us would be on the podium this time. I wanted to cheer her up, but my attempt was coming up at that time. After the competition, I spent some time there, but I couldn’t meet her properly. I feel very sad for her. I thought both Indian athletes would be on the podium. But it did not happen. It was a twist of fate. Q: Well, you spoke about being on the podium together and that dream. But the dream goes back to a fishing village in Kerala, where your father is an auto-rickshaw driver. How have things changed from the time you saw those hardships to where you’re standing now? When I started as a child, I never expected that I would reach this stage and make India and my family proud. I was just a girl who never sat still. I was always running around and staying active. I also learnt classical dance. Then I switched to sprinting and was very successful. Then came the moment when I was selected for the national camp as a long jumper. That’s when my journey in long jump really began, and my performances improved significantly. Looking back, I can say that if I had given up, I would never have reached this stage. But I didn’t quit. All my hard work and sacrifices are finally being recognised. Q: One last question. You mentioned classical dance and being a classical dancer. Does your desire to dress the way you do come from that background? Ancy Sojan: Actually, no. I’ve loved it since childhood. That’s how crazy I was. At first, people thought it was a distraction. But I feel that if you truly love something, it doesn’t feel like a burden. I love wearing jewellery. A lot of people message me saying, “Don’t wear three or four chains. But I like it, and that’s how I want to express myself.
Because that 6.50m is like nothing for me, ancy Sojan: I was completely calm and very confident that I could beat her. Because she has been in good form, you will be on the podium,”. Because i liked hearing the sound while running, even when I ran in sub-district competitions, I wore plenty of bangles.
Ancy recorded 6.53m on her fifth attempt, but Yingying had the last laugh, going past the Indian with a 6.55m jump. Shaili’s best was 6.42m on the day. But I tried my 100% and gave my all. Ancy Sojan: It took me 10 years to win an international medal at this level, and that shows my consistency, hard work, and the support of my parents and coaches.
You told me in Delhi that she was in a medal position. I had told her in Delhi, “No, no, you can do it.
Today, this was my fate and my performance. I gave my maximum effort, but today I had to settle for silver. Ancy Sojan: Yes, this is the second time, so I badly wanted to change the medal colour. But unfortunately, it ended with silver again. But I’m happy that at least I got a medal and fought very hard. Q: I’m glad about the way you accept it, but tell us, how difficult was it competing in these conditions? It was raining throughout the day, and we were wondering how it would play out for the athletes on the field. Ancy Sojan: Yeah, it is not easy. So we had to keep ourselves active all the time. I felt exhausted. My muscles were getting numb and cramped. I drank a lot of water and felt tired. So I tried to push through it. It is definitely not easy to compete in weather like this. Q: And what about Shaili? Did you have a chat with her? She was also in a medal position at one stage.
Because we are constantly doing activation exercises, people see athletes jumping from the outside, but when you’re competing in this weather, it is very hard. Because i needed to make my country proud, but I didn’t talk about it. There were 16 athletes, so after every attempt we had to wait for 15 others to complete theirs, and it took a lot of time.
