Savish Kusare He set a new national record in the men’s high jump with a clearance of 2.31m at the 65th National Senior Inter-State Athletics Championships at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Friday. The Maharashtra athlete also became the first Indian high jumper to officially cross the 2.30m mark.The 31-year-old broke the national record of 2.29m set by Tejaswin Shankar on April 27, 2018 in Lubbock. His jump also broke the meet record of 2.25 meters set by B Chethan at the 2018 National Inter-State Championships in Guwahati.Kushale has crossed the Asian Games qualification mark of 2.19 million. He set a new national record on his third attempt and finished with 2.31m. After that, he tried twice at 2.35m but failed to cross the height.Aadarsh Ram of Tamil Nadu finished second after running 2.25 metres. His efforts also broke the previous competition record and allowed him to break through the Asian Games qualification barrier. Jesse Sandesh of Karnataka finished third with a time of 2.19 meters, matching his qualifying time.This performance added another achievement to Kushale’s career. He represented India at the Paris Olympics and has been one of India’s regulars at domestic and international high jump competitions.His latest effort of 2.31m sets a new national benchmark for India in the event ahead of a busy season that includes the Asian Games.Kushale also made history at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. He became the first Indian male high jumper to qualify for the World Championship finals. He finished sixth with a personal best of 2.28m, which remains the best result by an Indian male high jumper in the history of the World Championships.
