Kochi/Bhubaneswar: Nattika, a small fishing village in Kerala’s Thrissur district, got a rude awakening on Saturday when Ancy Sojan broke the 22-year-old national record in women’s long jump.About 2,000 kilometers away from the Bhubaneswar sand trap where she landed at 6.88m, two local rickshaw drivers vicariously fulfilled their sporting dreams as legends of Kerala Anju Bobby GeorgeLong-standing records disappear into the sand. Anju’s 6.83m was set at the 2004 Athens Olympics.One of them is Anthy’s father, Sojan ET. The other is her childhood coach Sanoj VV – Nattika’s ‘Kannan Mash’.Neither one became an athlete beyond the regional level as they were stuck in the traffic jam of lack of opportunities in Indian sports. They found redemption on Saturday with Ancy’s majestic jump of 6.88m.“In 2019, people laughed at me when I predicted that Ancy would break Anju Bobby George’s record,” Ancy’s earliest coach told TOI. “She was not even 18 at the time. Look, today my prediction came true.”Father Sojan, who is currently recovering from a minor accident he suffered last week and who otherwise would have been by his daughter’s side, said: “I am living my dream through my daughter. I can’t progress because we don’t have training facilities. But she is here now…”
Anthy Sojan (TOI Photo)
Ansi comes from a low-income Syrian Christian community in Natica. Due to shortage of funds, Sanoj had to transport passengers in his auto-rickshaw. “We were not financially well-off,” Sanoy recalled. “Our income depended on my income from driving a rickshaw, and it was different every day. Now I am recovering from an injury, so this affects our income.”“This record is dedicated to my father,” Anthy said in Bhubaneswar. “He often said that our family had no record at the national level. For him, this is a reward for the trust he has shown me and all the sacrifices he has made over the years. This is my way of giving something back to him and making him proud.”The Sojans include Jansy, 47, Ancy’s housewife and mother. Younger son Dominic, 24, is studying business administration, while younger son Anjali, 20, aims to follow in his sister’s footsteps and become a long jumper.Soon after, Sanoy joined Sojan as a district high jump gold medalist, but his athletic ambitions ended before they began. “I am not a trained coach myself. I started my academy for budding athletes like Anzai so that I could pass on my experience to them,” Sanoy revealed.Sanoy first realized Andy’s potential when she was a teenager. “At the 2015 U-14 State School Games, Anthy jumped 4.93 meters and won a bronze medal. Considering she was very young at the time, only 13 years old, this was really remarkable,” he recalled.In 2019, Ansi captured the attention of the sports world across the country when she achieved a high jump of 6.26 meters at the National School Athletics Meet in Sangrur, Punjab.After Anthy’s record-breaking performance in Bhubaneswar on Saturday, Sanoj noticed something that long jump experts might have missed. “Until a year ago, there were problems with delaying departures from Anthy. There were none on Saturday. It was perfect,” he explained.Sojan believes his daughter has yet to reach her full potential. “She’s not 100 percent there yet,” he said. “She needs to improve her jumps and hold times. But I’m proud of her because she eliminated Anju’s 22-year-old national record. She can now break the 7-meter mark,” he added.Sanoy agreed. “I believe she can cross the 7-meter barrier,” he said.Anju, OG, knew this was going to happen. “I’m so proud of her… watching her jump puts a smile on my face. Long jump has always been a specialty of Malayalees. Proud that a Keralite has broken my record,” Anju said before leaving Bengaluru to meet the rising star.Young Anxi also believes that 7 meters is achievable.“Ms. Anju told me, ‘It’s okay. You’ve already broken the record, but now you have to keep going and win medals at the World Championships and the Olympics. This is a world-class jump and soon we will move towards 7 meters,'” Anxi said breathlessly.The 25-year-old, long the country’s third-best long jumper behind Anju’s pupil Shali Singh and Lakshadweep’s Mubasina Mohammed, will chase the 7m. She had been thinking about it for a while, but it would require some technical tweaks.“I had some problems with landing. My legs got to the right position, but my body didn’t follow properly. After that, I practiced my landing technique using boom bars and other exercises, which helped me reach 6.75m,” she said.Progress must be gradual. And very smart.“If I suddenly try too much on 7m, it may affect my jumping. Now our focus is on improving my stability,” the Asian Games silver medalist said. “The 6.70m range should be my minimum level.” It will happen. I’m more confident about it now. “Anthy’s jumping record is testament to the fact that while sporting talent can emerge from anywhere, it usually comes from simple backgrounds in India. As in the case of Anxi, it can even be cultivated by two rickshaw pullers who once had similar dreams.
