Praveen Chithravel, in only the third round of the competition, equalled his own national record in the triple jump and called it a day at the Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships.
His celebration was noteworthy. Upon landing, he was sure it was a big leap. He jumped back up and raised both hands and flung a bit of mud in exultation. Then he sought out his coach Yoandri Betanzos, a two-time Worlds silver medallist, and they high-fived.
As officials measured the distance, the question was whether it would be a national record. When the jump was recorded at 17.37 metres, Chithravel was overjoyed. He thumped his chest with one hand. More celebrations. He also went past the World Championship Qualifying Standard of 17.22m on Thursday.
On the back of his chest number, Chithravel had scribbled ‘17.20+… for my coach Yoandri’. He posed for pictures holding the piece of paper in front of him. The coach sets targets for him before each competition. At the Federation Cup, 17.20m was the aim.
Chithravel had broken the national record two years ago in Havana. He has been registering 17m-plus jumps every year since 2022.
However, last year there was a setback when he failed to qualify for the final at the Paris Olympics.
“The preparations for the Olympics were good but it was the first time I faced so much pressure in my life. The Commonwealth Games and Asian Games are fine, but the Olympics are totally different,” Chithravel said.
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The JSW athlete takes pride in being a 17 metre-plus jumper. “Someone had to do 17m jumps in India. In India, there are only two people doing 17m jumps… When I go to competitions around the world, people are always jumping more than 17 metres. So I push myself and my competitor Abdulla Aboobacker (silver medallist on Thursday),” Chithravel said.
Aboobacker, jumping 16.99m for the silver medal, will join Chithravel at the Asian Championships next month.
(LEFT) Praveen Chithravel after equalling his own national record in the triple jump; (RIGHT) the triple jumper shows the message he received from Neeraj Chopra.
Keeping his powder dry
On Thursday, Chithravel didn’t want to over-exert so he skipped the last three rounds. In fact, he had hoped to clinch the gold in two jumps.
“I don’t want too much impact here so I protected myself because of my ankle. I want to jump at the Asian Championships and World Championships. On my first two jumps, I didn’t get to the board properly but the third jump was perfect. I felt it was a national record. I am really happy because I want to push 17.30 so then one day I can jump 17:50,” he said.
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Coach Betanzos said that he has spoken to Chithravel about being mentally strong. “He needs a little more time. He is good, explosiveness is good, technique is good but mentally he was not prepared for high-level competitions. You need to be mentally ready for the Olympics and World Championships,” the Cuban said. The coach also wants improvements in Chithravel’s running approach.
Other than equalling his national record, Chithravel had more reasons to smile when he got a congratulatory WhatsApp message from javelin world champion and Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra.
“Neeraj bro always messages me. Whether I lose a competition or win, whenever I see his messages, I am happy. Whenever I meet him, I always ask a lot of questions. Like how he handles the crowd and pressure,” he added.
