India's great leap: Historic gold-silver in triple jump at Commonwealth Games 2022

For once, the Indian participants in an athletics event weren't hanging on the margins, hoping for someone in the leader pack to suddenly implode. They were the leader pack, and it felt so disbelievingly different as triple jumpers Eldhose Paul and Abdulla Aboobacker consulted among themselves around the pit, only to be finally separated by a mere 0.01 cm for gold-silver. Praveen Chitravel narrowly missed out on the bronze. As Paul and Aboobacker reposed faith in India's old-as-time sporting diversity, Annu Rani won an unprecedented bronze in the women's javelin. Sandeep Kumar won a bronze in the 10,000m walk.

History-makers Eldhose Paul and Abdulla Aboobacker make it a Sunday to rememberIt was Sunday and the spectator count at the Alexander Stadium was brimming. It would soon prove the perfect setting for India’s triple jumpers, Eldhose Paul and Abdulla Aboobacker from Kerala, and Praveen Chithravel, from Tamil Nadu. Like most of the jumpers, Paul likes to get the crowd behind his back by clapping his hands, get his adrenaline going before making the run towards the take-off board. Abdulla is the more focused one. He seldom takes his eyes off the target – the take-off board. Both elite jumpers, but with different working styles. However, it was Bermuda’s Jah-Nhai Perinchief who set the pace in the triple jump event. The 24-year-old’s first jump was a massive 16.92m. Chithravel was the best among the Indians with a 16.75m, while Paul recorded 14.62m and Aboobacker 16.57m.

Before the CWG, Aboobacker’s personal best was 17.19m while Paul’s sat at 16.99m. Both began by being short of those marks by considerable margins. In the ‘Indian corner’ of the stands, the tension was rising. High-jumper Tejaswin Shankar, long-jumper