Ankit Sharma (athlete)

Ankit Sharma (born 20 July 1992) is an Indian athlete who competes in the long jump event. He holds the long jump national record of 8.19 metres set in June 2016 at the G. Kosanov Memorial Meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Ankit Sharma
Personal information
Born (1992-07-20) 20 July 1992
Pinahat, Uttar Pradesh, India
Sport
CountryIndia
Event(s)Long jump
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)Outdoor: 8.19 m (Almaty 2016)
Indoor: 7.66 m (Doha 2016)
Medal record
South Asian Games
Gold medal – first place2016 GuwahatiLong Jump

Early life and background

Sharma was born on 20 July 1992 in Pinahat, Uttar Pradesh as the youngest child of teacher Harnath Sharma and Mithlesh Sharma.[1] His family originally hails from Morena district, Madhya Pradesh, and migrated to Pinahat several years before Sharma was born.[2] He did his initial schooling in Morena, before graduating in commerce in Bhopal.[1] His elder brother Pravesh Sharma is also an athlete.[2]

Sharma aspired to become a cricketer but was unable to take up the sport due to lack of adequate facilities in Morena.[3] When he was eight, Sharma started practicing javelin throw. His instructors suggested him to switch to long jump after watching him "jump up with joy" at each successful throw.[4] He took part in long jump events which were a part of Raksha Bandhan celebrations in Morena, and, at his parents' suggestion, decided to pursue a career in long jump. Apart from cricket and javelin throw, he also played volleyball, triple jump, discus throw and hurdles during his childhood.[3]

Career

In 2006, Sharma was selected to represent Sports Authority of India, Bhopal, when he crossed the 6-metre mark at the age of 13.[5] He was trained by Nishad Kumar since 2009 and Romanian coach Bedros Bedrosian since 2015.[6]

Sharma competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games but failed to win a medal. Having participated at the 2010 Asian Games, he was left out of the Indian contingent for the 2014 Asian Games, with India incidentally fielding no athletes in men's long jump. Regarding his omission, he said, "Certain athletes were even given a third chance to qualify; I did not get even one. I pleaded for one chance but was told I was no medal hope."[7]

In 2015, he recorded a jump of 8.04 metres at the National Games in Thiruvananthapuram and became the fifth Indian to go past the 8 metre-mark.[8][9] He won the gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games with a jump of 7.89 metres, breaking a 27-year Games record.[2]

In June 2016, Sharma took part in the G. Kosanov Memorial Meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he broke the national record two times on the same day.[8] He recorded jumps of 8.17, 8.19 and 8.14 metres, surpassing Kumaravel Premkumar's national record of 8.09 metres set in 2013.[9] He also gained qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro where the qualification standard was 8.15 metres.[9]

Personal life

Sharma is posted as an income tax inspector in Chennai as of June 2016, having been selected by the Income Tax Department in 2015.[1]

References
  1. "After 24 years, Agra sends a champ to Olympics". Hindustan Times (Lucknow). 27 June 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016 – via PressReader.
  2. Chauhani, Arvind (26 June 2016). "Long jumper Ankit Sharma seals Rio berth, Pinhat village erupts in joy". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  3. Phadnis, Vivek (15 July 2016). "Chambal tale: a long jump from bat and ball". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  4. Tomar, Shruti (27 June 2016). "MP: He took giant leap of faith to fulfil Olympic dream". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  5. Tomar, Shruti (27 June 2016). "'Olympics qualifier Ankit's success is not a cakewalk'". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  6. Ryan, Stan (28 June 2016). "Amazing performances, uncomfortable questions". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  7. Ganesan, Uthra (3 November 2014). "Ankit equals the long jump mark". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  8. "Ankit, Anas and Srabani head to Rio". The Hindu. 26 June 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  9. "My next goal is to reach the final, says Ankit Sharma". The Hindu. 10 July 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
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