Kushare jumps & grabs another gold

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, June 29

It seems Sarvesh Kushare just can’t stop winning. The high jumper has been jumping higher and higher in his Paris Olympics qualification quest, each win getting him closer to the goal.

Fresh from winning the Qosanov Memorial athletics meet in Kazakhstan’s Almaty, Kushare had arrived at the National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships here with high hopes. Last month, Shankar won the men’s high jump event at the USATF Throws Festival in Tucson, with a season best-equalling effort of 2.23m.

The fact that he was pitted against national record holder Tejaswin Shankar meant he had to deliver again. And Kushare did so, bagging the gold medal with a jump of 2.25 meters as Shankar (2.21m) finished second-best.

In the process, he bettered his season’s best mark of 2.23m finish achieved in Almaty.

However, Kushare needed to surpass the qualifying mark of 2.33m to gain a direct entry into the Games. This performance, though, could still help him break into the top-32 in the rankings to keep his Olympic dreams alive. “I am happy with the finish here. My ranking was on the fence and earning qualifying points was essential here. I will now wait for the final list,” said Kushare.

While the event started under humid conditions, the weather changed as the evening progressed. “The initial hour was good, however, clouds hovering over the stadium made the wind strong. I could have performed better if the weather had remained the same. But, we are trained for such conditions,” said the Army man.