India’s track and field athlete Pavana Nagaraj has set a new national record in the women’s indoor long jump category. At the Owen Hewitt Invitational 2026 athletics meet in Norman, Oklahoma, the reigning Asian U20 champion finished her campaign in the finals with her personal best record of 6.47 metres.
The victory, however, has brought immense joy for her mother, Sahana Kumari, who is a former Indian high jumper who, back in 2012, broke Bobby Aloysius’s national record in the women’s high jump event. Sahana made a leap of 1.92m, which still remains an unbreakable event today.
In the Oklahoma meet, USA’s Morgan Little (6.31m) and Jasmine Akins (6.18m) finished in second and third place, respectively. The record set by Pavana was initially set by India’s Mayookha Johny, who scored a jump of 6.44m during an event in Germany back in 2012.
For Pavana, the record set at the Oklahoma meet is, however, one centimetre short of her qualification for the 2026 Asian Games 2026 as per the Athletics Federation of India rule. On the bright side, she has improved on her previous personal best performance of 6.32m, which was set at the 2024 Asian U20 Athletics Championships held in Dubai. Pavana finished the event with a gold medal.
Pavana, who competed for the Oklahoma State University, shared the remarks she received from her mother post-victory. From one athlete to another, the factor of consistency matters, which Pavana has learnt from her mother, who wants her daughter to work harder and keep achieving more victories and establish her dominance in different tournaments.
“Mom was pretty happy. But she wants me to do more. She said it was a very good season opener, but she also asked me to be patient and save my energy and not get drained competing in all these events because I have higher targets. She said it’s good to have such a start, but it’s important to be consistent till the end of the season,” Pavana mentioned.
Pavana is born to an athletic family, where both of her parents, Sahana Kumari and Nagaraj, are former athletes. Her journey started as a high jumper but also tried her luck at different levels, including sprints, hurdles and 800m events. In 2021, she set a national record in the Under-16 event. She bagged a gold medal in the long jump event at the 2024 Asian Juniors, followed by which she went on to compete at the Junior World Championships the same year.
(Inputs sourced from Sportstar)
