Who is Ancy Sojan? She is the 25-year-old long jumper from Kerala who holds India’s women’s national record of 6.88m. Ancy Sojan Edappilly broke Anju Bobby George’s 22-year-old mark in June 2026, and three months later she won her second Asian Games silver in Nagoya.

She also missed gold in Nagoya by just two centimetres. This page therefore tells her whole story so far: her medals, her record, her 2026 season jump by jump, and her life in the Indian Navy.

Who is Ancy Sojan? The short answer

Ancy Sojan is an Indian long jumper from Kerala. She was born on 1 March 2001, according to World Athletics, and she competes for the Indian Navy at national level.

Her 2026 season was the best of her career. She won Asian Indoor bronze, the Federation Cup and the national title. She then broke the national record and won Asian Games silver for the second time.

Asian Games 2026: long jump silver by two centimetres

The women’s long jump final took place in Nagoya on Sunday 27 September. Ancy opened with 6.49m and led for most of the competition. Then, in the fifth round, she stretched her lead with 6.53m.

However, China’s Huang Yingying jumped 6.55m with her final attempt. As a result, Ancy took silver by just 0.02m. Meanwhile, Shaili Singh finished fourth after China’s Tan Mengyi moved past her in the last round.

Afterwards, Ancy said rain and tiredness hurt her last three jumps. “Unfortunately, it was not my day,” she told SAI Media, Telangana Today reported. Even so, the medal added to her silver from Hangzhou in 2023. Our Asian Games 2026 hub has every Indian result from Nagoya.

6.88m: Ancy Sojan breaks a 22-year-old national record

On 27 June, at the Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar, Ancy opened with 6.73m. That jump alone met the Asian Games qualification mark. Then, on her fifth attempt, she landed 6.88m for a new national record.

The old record was Anju Bobby George’s 6.83m from the 2004 Athens Olympics. Shaili Singh took silver with 6.67m, and Mubassina Mohammed took bronze with 6.53m. In addition, Ancy said she had not even aimed for the record. “I came here to do my PB, not the national record,” she told PTI.

Ancy Sojan’s 2026 season, jump by jump

Her rise came in steps. For example, her best went from 6.54m in April to 6.75m in May. Then, only five weeks later, it jumped to 6.88m.

At the Federation Cup, her 6.75m fell just 9cm short of the 6.84m Commonwealth Games mark, Onmanorama reported. Full results from Ranchi are on our Federation Cup 2026 page.

Download PDF: Federation Cup 2026 women’s long jump result

Ancy Sojan personal bests

Ancy started as a sprinter, so her profile also lists 100m and 200m marks. The marks below are from her World Athletics profile and our race reports.

Her 6.88m is now the Indian women’s record, 5cm beyond Anju Bobby George’s old mark. Before 2026, her best was 6.71m from Bengaluru in September 2024. Meanwhile, her record made our list of 26 national records in a historic 2026 season.

Who is Ancy Sojan’s coach? From Nattika to Navi Mumbai

Ancy comes from Nattika in Thrissur district. She began athletics properly in sixth standard as a 100m and 200m sprinter, and then moved to the long jump. For nearly ten years, she trained at the Nattika Sports Academy under coach Sanoj VV.

Her senior international career began at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. A year later, she won Asian Games silver in Hangzhou with 6.63m. Then, in 2025, she took silver at the Asian Championships in Gumi with 6.33m. However, injuries kept interrupting her progress, and she had to end the 2025 season early.

She now trains at the Reliance Foundation National Athletics Centre in Navi Mumbai. There, her coaches are head coach James Hillier and Anoop Joseph. In 2026, she cleared 6.70m or more at four different meets.

Who is Ancy Sojan beyond the track? Navy, PCOD and support

Off the track, Ancy serves in the Indian Navy, and she represented the Navy at the 2026 Federation Cup. She has also been part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) since December 2021.

In addition, she manages polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD). The condition affected her hormones and nearly kept her out of the 2026 Inter-State Championships, The Indian Express reported. She still went on to break the national record at that meet.

Meanwhile, the woman whose record she broke now supports her. Anju Bobby George was at the track in Nagoya and gave Ancy tips on her landing.

Follow Ancy Sojan on Athletics India

Her full stats and results are on Ancy Sojan’s athlete profile. In addition, all Indian marks in her event are on our women’s long jump page.

India’s Ancy Sojan Edappilly continued her impressive run at Kalinga Stadium, winning the women’s long jump title at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meet in Bhubaneswar with a best effort of 6.71m.

The Indian national record holder produced a consistent series, with her winning mark coming on her third attempt. She opened with 6.51m and 6.58m before landing 6.71m, followed by a foul, 6.65m and 6.56m.

Women’s Long Jump — Final

🥇 Ancy Sojan 🇮🇳 — 6.71m
🥈 Shaili Singh 🇮🇳 — 6.56m
🥉 Mubassina Mohammed 🇮🇳 — 6.31m
4️⃣ Kusuma Ravanada 🇮🇳 — 6.29m
5️⃣ Bhagavathi Bhavani 🇮🇳 — 6.25m
6️⃣ Danielle Nolte 🇿🇦 — 6.05m

Ancy’s victory comes just weeks after she produced a spectacular 6.88m at the same stadium to break the Indian women’s long jump national record.

Although she could not replicate that record-breaking distance this time, her 6.71m was comfortably enough to secure the gold medal and once again underline her dominance in the Indian event.

India also completed a clean sweep of the podium, with Shaili Singh taking silver at 6.56m and Mubassina Mohammed winning bronze with 6.31m.

The result makes the women’s long jump one of the highlights of India’s campaign at its first-ever World Athletics Continental Tour Silver-level meet, with the country’s leading jumpers delivering a memorable home performance at Kalinga Stadium.

For Ancy, the gold adds another strong result to what has already been a breakthrough season, following her record-breaking leap of 6.88m at the same venue.

By Sushant Singh

Many sports fans were disappointed after India’s senior women’s high jump national record holder and teen sensation Pooja finished 7th in the women’s high jump final at the World Athletics U20 Championships 2026.

Pooja successfully cleared 1.75m, 1.80m, and 1.84m during the final. The 19-year-old was unable to clear 1.87m and ended her campaign with a best clearance of 1.84m.

But why did India’s Pooja, one of the country’s biggest medal hopes, fail to deliver on the world’s biggest stage?

To understand that, we first have to understand why she was considered one of India’s strongest medal hopes at the World U20 Championships.

Pooja has been one of India’s most consistent athletes over the years. Since 2022, when her personal best was 1.71m, she has improved it to 1.93m.

Since 2023, she has competed in 29 high jump competitions and has cleared 1.80m or higher around 21 times. During this period, she continuously improved her personal bests to 1.82m, 1.85m, 1.89m, and finally 1.93m.

What is even more interesting is that she has often produced her personal best performances at the biggest competitions of her career.

 – 1.82m — her first-ever clearance above 1.80m, achieved while winning silver at the Asian U20 Championships, which was the biggest competition of her life at that time.

 – 1.83m — at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships.

 – 1.85m — at the 2024 Junior Nationals in the heptathlon, an event she was competing in for the first time in her life.

The biggest performance of her career came at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025, where she was the youngest member of the Indian contingent yet stunned everyone by winning gold and becoming Asian champion with a clearance of 1.89m.

Later, at the Asian U20 Championships, she cleared 1.93m, shattering the Indian national record and becoming the first Indian woman ever to clear that height.

During the 2024 South Asian Games, in an interview with NNIS Sports, Pooja and her former coach Balwan Parta said:

“She is a big-game player. She never posts her PBs during practice, but always does it in competition.”

So what really happened at the biggest competition of her life, the World Athletics U20 Championships 2026?

Pooja had been saying since the beginning of this year that World U20 was her top priority for the season, and she had been training specifically for it.

She started the season early, competing at the Asian Indoor Championships, where she won silver with 1.87m — then the second-best clearance of her career, achieved in her first competition of the season.

Just one competition later, she improved her personal best to 1.90m. Then, at the Asian U20 Championships at Indira Gandhi Stadium on 29 May 2026, she again produced a major performance. Interestingly, almost exactly a year earlier, on 30 May 2025, she had cleared 1.89m to become Asian champion.

The peaking of the body in athletics, especially in jumps, works very differently. Coaches and support staff often have to plan the entire competition calendar before the season even begins — deciding which competitions to target, which to skip, and when the athlete should reach peak condition.

This year has been challenging for many athletes, not just Pooja, with the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games falling in the same year. For Pooja, the challenge was even greater, as she had to manage three major competitions, including the World U20 Championships.

Pooja had not originally included the Commonwealth Games 2026 in her competition calendar, but after achieving the qualification standard, she competed in Glasgow and finished 8th. Less than nine days later, she was competing again at the World U20 Championships.

Another interesting point is that the top five athletes in the world U20 season rankings before the championship were:

• Izobelle Louison-Roe
• Pooja
• Lilianna Bátori
• Ella Mikkola
• Aitana Alonso

Remarkably, four of those five athletes finished in the top four at the World Championships, taking gold, silver, bronze, and fourth place. Only Pooja finished outside the top five.

NNIS Sports has also learned that a few days before leaving for the Commonwealth Games, Pooja spent some time in Delhi for visa appointments. She had been planning to join an international training camp in Poland, but due to visa delays she remained in Delhi for several days and even trained at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium instead of staying at her regular training base, the Anju Bobby George Academy in Bengaluru.

She later returned to Bengaluru after continued visa delays and eventually planned to travel directly to Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games. This may have affected her preparation

Although she is only 19 years old, expectations around her have risen because she has performed at such a high level and made people believe that she could be India’s next big thing in the jumps.

This disappointing campaign will surely give her valuable experience. The expectation now is that she will learn from this setback and bounce back strongly, with the Asian Games 2026 likely to be her next major target, where she is expected to represent India in the women’s high jump.

India’s Pooja finished seventh in the women’s high jump final at the World Athletics U20 Championships 2026, bringing her campaign to an end after a best clearance of 1.84m.

The 19-year-old entered the competition as one of India’s biggest medal hopes and produced a composed performance through the early stages of the final. She successfully cleared 1.75m, followed by 1.80m and 1.84m, progressing through each height before facing the next challenge at 1.87m.

However, Pooja was unable to clear 1.87m, ending her competition with a best mark of 1.84m and securing seventh place overall.

Pooja’s Final Series

• 1.75m – Cleared
• 1.80m – Cleared
• 1.84m – Cleared
• 1.87m – Unsuccessful

The result comes after a breakthrough season for the young Indian high jumper. Pooja has established herself as one of the country’s leading emerging athletes in the event, producing significant performances at both domestic and international competitions.

While she was unable to challenge for the podium in Eugene, reaching the World U20 final itself provided Pooja with valuable experience at a major global championship. The final brought together the leading junior high jumpers from around the world, providing a demanding test for the 19-year-old.

Her clearance of 1.84m was enough to place her seventh in the final standings. Although the outcome fell short of the medal that India would have hoped for from one of its leading medal prospects, Pooja now has the experience of competing in a global championship final to build on in the next stage of her career.

With her World U20 campaign now complete, Pooja will look to carry the lessons from Eugene into future international competitions as she continues her development among India’s promising young athletics talents.

India’s Pooja Singh has officially qualified for the women’s high jump final at the World Athletics U20 Championships 2026 after producing a flawless qualification round.

The 19-year-old cleared both heights she attempted on her first try, going over 1.76m and then 1.79m without a single failure.

The automatic qualifying mark for the final was set at 1.84m, with the best 12 athletes also advancing if fewer than 12 cleared the standard. However, only 14 athletes across the two qualification groups managed to clear 1.79m, meaning all 14 earned places in the final.

Pooja’s qualification adds another chapter to what has been an impressive season for the Indian high jumper. She has emerged as one of India’s standout performers in 2026, setting a new Indian women’s high jump national record with a clearance of 1.93m.

That season-best mark also puts Pooja among the strongest contenders heading into the world final.

Having negotiated qualification without a single failed attempt, Pooja will now look to reproduce her best form when the medals are decided.

India’s Pooja will be one of the country’s brightest young medal hopes in the women’s high jump at the Commonwealth Games 2026, following a breakthrough season that has established her among the leading jumpers in the Commonwealth.

The 19-year-old has enjoyed a remarkable 2026 campaign, consistently raising the bar with a series of career-best performances. Her season-best clearance of 1.93m currently ranks seventh among Commonwealth athletes this year, placing her in contention in one of the strongest women’s high jump fields assembled for the Games.

Pooja’s rise has been one of the standout stories of Indian athletics this season. She registered two lifetime bests, broke the Indian U20 national record twice, and surpassed the senior national record mark with her clearance of 1.93m. The rapid progression has highlighted both her immense talent and her ability to perform under pressure against top-class competition.

The Commonwealth season rankings are headed by Australia’s Eleanor Patterson, who has cleared 2.00m, followed closely by compatriot Nicola Olyslagers at 1.99m. Nigeria’s Temitope Simbiat Adeshina occupies third with 1.97m, while Lamara Distin of Jamaica and Rose Yeboah of Ghana have both recorded 1.96m. Australia’s Izobelle Louison-Roe follows with 1.95m, before Pooja rounds out the top seven at 1.93m.

Although she will be competing against several world-class athletes, Pooja has shown throughout the season that she is capable of rising to the occasion. Her consistent improvement and fearless approach have made her one of India’s most exciting field-event prospects heading into Glasgow.

With a season-best that ranks among the Commonwealth’s elite and a breakthrough campaign already behind her, Pooja enters the Games with growing confidence. If she can reproduce her best form on the biggest stage, the young Indian high jumper has every opportunity to challenge for a place on the podium and continue her remarkable rise in international athletics.