Pooja Singh Breaks 14-Year-Old National Record With Historic 1.93m Jump, Wins Gold at Asian U-20 Athletics Championships

Indian athletics witnessed a landmark moment in Hong Kong on Saturday (May 29) as Pooja Singh shattered the women's high jump national record with a magnificent clearance of 1.93m at the Asian U-20 Athletics Championships.

The 19-year-old not only clinched the gold medal but also erased one of the longest-standing records in Indian athletics history. The previous national record of 1.92m, held by Sahana Kumari since 2012, had stood untouched for 14 years before Pooja finally rewrote the record books.

What made the achievement even more remarkable was how the competition unfolded.

Earlier in the event, Pooja had already improved her personal best to 1.91m. For most athletes, that would have been a career-defining day. But the Indian high jumper was not finished.

Moments later, she cleared 1.93m, surpassing Sahana Kumari's long-standing mark and becoming India's new national record holder.

The historic effort also elevated Pooja to the top of Asian U-20 rankings for the season and made her the second-best U-20 women's high jumper in the world in 2026.

From Silver Medallist to Continental Champion

The significance of Pooja's achievement becomes even greater when viewed through the lens of her journey.

At the 2023 Asian U-20 Athletics Championships, Pooja had finished with a silver medal after clearing 1.82m, narrowly missing out on gold to Uzbekistan's Barnokhon Saifullaeva.

Three years later, she returned to the same stage as a completely transformed athlete.

This time, she stood on top of the podium as Asian champion, improved her personal best by an astonishing 11 centimetres, and left Hong Kong as India's national record holder. The progression tells the story of an athlete who never stopped improving.

From 1.85m to 1.89m. From 1.90m. to 1.91m. And now 1.93m.

Each season brought another breakthrough until she finally climbed beyond a record that had survived for more than a decade.

Pooja Singh: A New Queen of Indian High Jump

Pooja's medal cabinet already reads like that of an established international athlete despite being only 19 years old.

The Haryana athlete has now won gold medals at the Asian Championships, Asian Indoor Championships, Asian U-20 Championships, Asian U-18 Championships and South Asian U-20 Championships.

With the national record now in her possession, she has firmly established herself as India's premier women's high jumper.

More importantly, her 1.93m clearance suggests there is still significant room for growth.

At an age when most high jumpers are still learning the event at the senior level, Pooja is already rewriting Indian athletics history.

The Sahana Kumari Connection

Perhaps the most emotional aspect of the story came not from the jump itself but from who was standing nearby when it happened.

For 14 years, Sahana Kumari's 1.92m national record stood as one of the benchmarks of Indian athletics.

It inspired an entire generation of high jumpers, including Pooja herself. And when the record finally fell in Hong Kong, Sahana was there.

Instead of disappointment at losing her place in the record books, the former national record holder was seen encouraging and guiding Pooja from the sidelines.

It was a powerful reminder of how sporting legacies are built.

Records eventually fall. What remains is the impact athletes leave on those who follow them.

In many ways, Pooja's historic 1.93m was not just the birth of a new national record. It was also the continuation of a legacy that Sahana helped create.

Tears on the Podium

After securing gold and setting a national record, Pooja climbed to the top step of the podium to receive her medal.

But it was during the national anthem that the magnitude of the achievement finally hit home.

As the Indian flag rose and Jana Gana Mana echoed around the stadium, the young high jumper struggled to hold back tears.

Years of sacrifice, training sessions, setbacks and near misses had culminated in a moment she had dreamed about for years.

The tears were not merely for a gold medal.

They were for becoming India's greatest-ever women's high jumper.

A 14-year-old national record had fallen.

A new star had arrived.

And Indian athletics may have just witnessed the beginning of something even bigger.