Jhansi girl Shaili Singh won a silver medal in Long Jump at the U-20 World Athletics Championship. The event took place in Nairobi on Sunday. The youngster missed out on a historic gold by a mere 1 cm. The 17-year-old missed a chance to join the likes of Olympic champions Neeraj Chopra and Hima Das. They had won gold medals in 2016 and 2018 respectively.
Shaili jumped 6.59m, just one centimetre short of European Champion Maja Askag of Sweden who won the Gold with a leap of 6.60m! Mariia Horielova of Ukraine took the bronze with a best jump of 6.50m.
Shaili currently trains at the academy of Anju Bobby George in Bengaluru. She is coached by Anju’s husband Bobby George. Speaking to ESPN, Anju Geroge said, “sooner or later, Shaili will break my record.” Robert added, “She will touch and go past 6.83 in another 2-3 years. But she will cross the 7m mark in three years. This I can guarantee.”
Following her medal ceremony, Shaili was asked to whom she would dedicate her medal? Will it be her mother or her coach? She answered, “I will dedicate it to sir. Mummy only took me to sir. It is sir who got me to this level.”
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