3 cheers not enough, she wants longer high

[1]

Mayookha Johny, the talented athlete, just cannot get over her gold-winning effort in long jump event at the on-going national senior inter-State athletic meet.

The memory of her golden leap, the flight, grains of sand that flew around with loud cheers — all revisit her so very often.

Mayookha replays that moment in her mind to give strength to the brave decision that she has taken, “From now on I will stick to long jump alone.”

The hazel eyed girl who, at the Asian Grand Prix, Wujiang, Chinathe held in the last week of May, became the first Indian women to have crossed the 14 m in triple jump, has planned to step down from the event. Instead, she has decided to concentrate in long jump alone.

Says Mayookha, “I’m glad to achieve the milestone (14.02 m at Asian Grand Prix), but that is nowhere close to world standards. Moreover, there is stiff competition in it, even at the national level.

“But now, winning gold with a record in long jump at the senior nationals has given me a real boost. I’m sure I can do even better if I concentrate on this event alone,” says the Kerala girl, who’s 6.63 m bettered Anju Bobby George’s meet record by 10 cm.

Mayookha, who hails from Kozhikode in north Kerala, was unfortunate to miss out of a medal in the Delhi Commonwealth Games when she could only jump a below par 6.30 m and settle for the sixth position, as Canadian Alice Falaiye took home the gold with 6.50 m.

And at the senior national, the 22-year-old had a bittersweet experience when she, in spite of the gold-winning leap, fell short of the Olympic qualifying mark by 2 cm.

“It was unfortunate that I could not make it. The measurement was taken from where my hair touched the ground but had it not been the case, the distance would have been 6.72 m,” says Mayookha.

Nevertheless, she has taken the positive out of it and in time with a little more training, she has the potential to break Anju’s national record of 6.83 m.

Mayookha, who started her career under SAI Coach Jose Mathew at the Thalassery centre, now works with coach Syamkumar, who also trains champion triple jumper Ranjith Maheswari.

At the peak of her career, Mayookha wants to continue her form for the Asian Track and Field that is most likely to be held in Japan in the first week of July. If things go her way, will she be the next queen of Indian athletics? We will get our answer very soon.