New Delhi: India’s 19-year-old star athlete, high-jumper Pooja Singh, created history Friday at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong by breaking a 14-year-old national record. She recorded a personal best of 1.93 metres, surpassing the previous record of 1.92 metres set by Sahana Kumari in 2012.
Kumari is incidentally Singh’s coach and was by her side as she won the gold medal —her second medal at the Asian U20 Championships. Singh also breached the 2026 Commonwealth Games qualifying standard, set at 1.92 metres.
However, she narrowly missed out on what could have been another historic achievement—the Asian junior record of 1.96 metres.
Her victory came on a day when Indian athletes won seven medals, including four golds, at the U20 Championships.
Singh belongs to Bosti village in Fatehabad district, Haryana. Her father is a daily wage construction worker. Hailing from a humble background, Singh’s family did not have necessary resources for elite athletics training.
According to a 2025 The Indian Express report, she was first spotted by her village coach Balwan Singh Patra, who brought her into his academy as a yoga and gymnastics trainee. He noticed her flexibility, explosive power and leg strength. Her first jump, although only 90 centimetres, impressed Patra. He told Indian Express how she would practise with a bamboo pole and sacks made out of rice husks and hay, with the sacks effectively functioning as her landing mat.
As she began qualifying for major international competitions, Indian discus legend Seema Antil reportedly helped her academy procure a professional landing mat. Coach Patra’s academy found new students and grew after Singh’s achievements attracted global attention, according to The Indian Express report.
Singh won a gold in the U14 girls category and set a national record at the 2022 Junior National Championships, achieving the feat after returning from an extended injury. The winning streak continued with a gold the next year at Asian U-18 Athletics Championships, a silver at the U-20 Championships, and a bronze at the 2023 Commonwealth Games.
At the 2024 World Athletics U20 championship, she broke the national record and qualified for the final round. She also recorded her personal best at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championship, winning another gold with a jump of 1.89 metres.
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