Who is Pooja Singh? She is the 19-year-old high jumper from Haryana who holds India’s women’s national record of 1.93m. In Nagoya she won bronze with 1.84m, and Pooja Singh became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games high jump medal since Bobby Aloysius in 2002.
Yet in June 2025, a Grade-2 ligament tear ended her season. This page therefore tells her whole story so far: her medals, her personal bests, her 2026 season jump by jump, and the village coach who spotted her at a yoga camp.
Pooja Singh at a glance
- Born: 21 February 2007, Bosti village, Fatehabad (Haryana)
- Age: 19
- State: Haryana
- Event: High jump
- Personal bests: 1.93m outdoors (national record), 1.87m indoors (national indoor record)
- Asian Games 2026: bronze in the women’s high jump with 1.84m
- Education: Bachelor of Physical Education and Sports student, Lovely Professional University
- Off the track: a mason’s daughter who first trained with a bamboo pole and sacks of rice husk
Jump to: Who is she Asian Games bronze 1.93m record 2026 season Personal bests Her story Beyond the track
Who is Pooja Singh? The short answer
Pooja Singh is an Indian high jumper who represents Haryana. She was born on 21 February 2007, according to World Athletics, where she is listed simply as Pooja.
Her 2026 season was a comeback year. She returned from injury, won Asian Indoor silver and broke a 14-year-old national record. Then, after tough outings in Glasgow and Eugene, she finished the year with Asian Games bronze.
Asian Games 2026: high jump bronze without a single miss
The women’s high jump final took place in Nagoya on Tuesday 29 September. Pooja cleared 1.70m, 1.75m, 1.80m and 1.84m, each on her first attempt. However, she then failed three times at 1.87m.
Her clean card through 1.84m proved decisive, and she took bronze on countback. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan’s Barnokhon Sayfullaeva won gold with a personal best of 1.90m, and Kazakhstan’s Kristina Ovchinnikova took silver with 1.87m.
| Place | Athlete | Country | Height |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barnokhon Sayfullaeva | Uzbekistan | 1.90m |
| 2 | Kristina Ovchinnikova | Kazakhstan | 1.87m |
| 3 | Pooja Singh | India | 1.84m |
| 12 | Supriya Basavaraju | India | 1.75m |
The medal also ended a long wait. Before Pooja, the last Indian woman with an Asian Games high jump medal was Bobby Aloysius, who won silver in 2002. In addition, it came a day after Sarvesh Kushare won men’s high jump silver. Every Indian result from Nagoya is on our Asian Games 2026 hub.
Asian U20 gold and the 1.93m national record
Her biggest jump came on 29 May at the Asian U20 Championships in Hong Kong. First, she cleared 1.91m to improve her own U20 record. Then, on the very next height, she cleared 1.93m for the senior national record.
The old mark of 1.92m belonged to Sahana Kumari and had stood since 2012. Remarkably, Sahana was in Hong Kong as part of India’s coaching staff, and she celebrated the record with Pooja. Pooja was five years old when Sahana set it.
However, she nearly missed the meet. Days earlier, she was among 23 Indian athletes turned back at the airport over visas. As a result, her gold also cleared the 1.92m Commonwealth Games mark. India’s full haul is on our Asian U20 medal tally page.
Pooja Singh’s 2026 season, jump by jump
Her rise came in steps. For example, her best went from 1.89m in 2025 to 1.90m in April and 1.93m in May. However, the middle of the season was harder, with eighth place in Glasgow and seventh at the World U20 Championships.
| When | Meet | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | Asian Indoor Championships, Tianjin | High jump | 1.87m, silver, national indoor record |
| April | Indian Athletics Series-3, New Delhi | High jump | 1.90m, personal best then |
| 29 May | Asian U20 Championships, Hong Kong | High jump | 1.93m, gold, national record |
| June | Inter-State Championships, Bhubaneswar | High jump | 1.83m, gold, Asian Games mark |
| 28 July | Commonwealth Games final, Glasgow | High jump | 1.77m, eighth |
| 7 August | World U20 Championships qualifying, Eugene | High jump | 1.79m, reached final |
| 9 August | World U20 Championships final, Eugene | High jump | 1.84m, seventh |
| 22 August | World Athletics Continental Tour meet, Bhubaneswar | High jump | Did not start |
| 10 September | Indian Athletics Final Series, New Delhi | High jump | 1.81m, won |
| 29 September | Asian Games final, Nagoya | High jump | 1.84m, bronze |
In Glasgow, heavy rain left water pooling around the high jump apron and delayed the final. Pooja cleared 1.77m on her second attempt but then failed three times at 1.82m,NNIS SPORTS reported. Meanwhile, in Eugene she cleared 1.84m but missed at 1.87m.
Pooja Singh personal bests
Both of her current bests came in 2026. The marks below are from her World Athletics profile and our race reports.
| Event | Height | Where | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| High jump | 1.93m (NR) | Asian U20 Championships, Hong Kong | 29 May 2026 |
| High jump (indoor) | 1.87m (NR) | Asian Indoor Championships, Tianjin | February 2026 |
| High jump, previous best | 1.90m | Indian Athletics Series-3, New Delhi | April 2026 |
| High jump, best before 2026 | 1.89m | Asian Championships, Gumi (Korea) | 30 May 2025 |
Her 1.93m makes her the only Indian woman to clear that height. In addition, her 1.87m in Tianjin broke Bobby Aloysius’s 22-year-old national indoor record of 1.84m. India’s other leading jumpers are on our women’s high jump page.
Pooja Singh set both her outdoor and indoor national records in 2026.
Who is Pooja Singh’s coach? From Bosti to Nagoya
Pooja grew up in Bosti village in Fatehabad district. Her first coach, Balwan Singh Parta, spotted her jumping ability at a government yoga camp in 2018. Before that, she had tried kabaddi, kho-kho, gymnastics and yoga.
However, there were no proper facilities. She practised with a bamboo pole and landed on sacks filled with rice husk, and she travelled about 12km a day to train. Her first meet ended at 90cm, but she soon won an U14 title with 1.41m.
After a quadriceps injury kept her out for 15 months, she climbed fast. She won Asian U18 gold in 2023, took Asian U20 silver the same year and finished sixth at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Then, in May 2025, she won Asian Championships gold in Gumi with 1.89m, becoming only the second Indian woman after Bobby Aloysius to do so.
Who is Pooja Singh beyond the track? Family, study and comebacks
Her father, Hansraj, works as a mason. Meanwhile, Pooja studies for a Bachelor of Physical Education and Sports at Lovely Professional University, and she is part of the government’s TOPS scheme.
Her career has also been a story of comebacks. A Grade-2 ligament tear in June 2025 ruled her out of the World University Games. Even at her best, money was tight: after her Asian title she told NNIS Sports, “I had no choice. I had to use torn spikes that were somehow kind of bandaged together.”
Top coaches have noticed her return. Matt Horsnell, who coaches world champion Nicola Olyslagers, praised how well she had bounced back from injury before Glasgow. In addition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated her after the Nagoya bronze.
Pooja Singh came back from a Grade-2 ligament tear to win three international medals in 2026.
Follow Pooja Singh on Athletics India
Her full stats and results are on Pooja Singh’s athlete profile. In addition, every Indian result from Glasgow is on our CWG 2026 page.