NEW DELHI: Young Indian athlete Lokesh Sathyanathan achieved a major milestone in his fledgling career by winning the gold medal in the men's long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
With a leap of 8.21m, he set a new indoor national record and moved to third on the all-time list of Indian long jumpers, behind Jeswin Aldrin (8.42m) and Murali Sreeshankar (8.41m).
Lokesh, who is enrolled at Tarleton State University, set an indoor national record of 8.21m on his way to clinching the top podium spot in the fourth attempt of the final.
Lokesh finished ahead of De'Aundre Ward of the University of Southern Mississippi, who leapt 8.20m to claim the second spot, and Tafadzwa Chikomba of Kansas State University, who finished third with a jump of 8.15m.
"I'm grateful to God because I know nothing is possible without Him and of course my family back home (in Bengaluru) and my coach, who is my family here," Lokesh told The Stride Report after the achievement, which made him only the fourth Indian after Mohinder Singh Gill, Vikas Gowda and Tejaswin Shankar to win the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Indian athlete was placed fifth at the NCAA Outdoors at a young age.
While his 8.17m final leap on Friday marked a significant leap from his 8.02m personal best, Lokesh is no stranger to the spotlight. His journey to this breakthrough includes multiple junior national titles and a stint representing India at the 2018 World Athletics U20 Championships.
"My coach always believes in me no matter what... and I would also like to thank everyone in my team because it's like a family and every day we work there... put in the hard work and push each other and reach our limits.
"Now, here we are winning the national titles, so I'm thankful to God and my coach Carter; I love him," he added.
On the competition on Friday, he said, "I think 26'11" was the leading jump until the fourth (attempt) and then I got 26'11-1/2", which is like 8.21m -- which is my personal best as well... so that is it," he said.
"It's got to be a very special moment because I always dedicate everything to my mom up there, because I've given a lot of words and commitments to my mom. The last time I saw her... so it's obviously a special moment because when I go home, I am not just going back home with my personal best but going back with my national title. My mom would be proud; I know she is proud up there."
Lokesh's mother died in 2021 after battling COVID-19 infection.
"It was pretty much unfortunate. I didn't know it was coming; it was during the second COVID wave, and that's when I decided to come back here. That's when mom said, 'Go follow your dreams,' and show me what you can do. It was pretty heartbreaking, and I said 'if that's what my mom wants, then I'm going for it," said Lokesh, whose father was a footballer and his sister a national-level 400-metre runner.
He added that the venue was a happy hunting ground for him.
"I was ranked 8th all over NCAA and 28th in the world, and this track is special to me because I came back to do the invitational competition, and I did my PB indoors, and it's even more special for me today. I know the big things are coming (for me).