IMAGE: Sarvesh Kushare failed in his three attempts to clear 2.31m. Photograph: Sarvesh Kushare/Instagram
Unheralded high jumper Sarvesh Kushare on Tuesday finished a creditable sixth with a personal best of 2.28m, a mere centimeter short of the national record, in the World Championships finals, two days after becoming the first Indian to qualify for the medal round in the event.
The 30-year-old Kushare, son of an onion farmer from a nondescript village near Nashik in Maharashtra, went past his personal best of 2.27m, which he had achieved in 2022, by clearing 2.28m in his third attempt.
But he failed to clear the bar when it was raised to 2.31m, thereby missing the national record of 2.29m set by Tejaswini Shankar in 2018.
Nonetheless, Kushare, who used to do practice on fodder-made makeshift mats early in his career, would hold his head high after his spirited performance. He barely qualified for the World Championships, sneaking into the showpiece through world ranking quota at the 34th spot among 36 athletes to compete.
Kushare, who had won a silver medal in the 2023 Asian Championships, cleared 2.20m in his first attempt and then needed two jumps to clear the next height of 2.24m. When the bar was raised to 2.28m, Kushare failed twice but his third attempt was successful.
But 2.31m was beyond his reach, and he could not clear the height in three attempts.
New Zealand’s reigning Olympic champion Hamish Kerr won the gold with a world-leading 2.36m, while world indoor champion Woo Sanghyeok of Korea took the silver with 2.34m in a fierce competition.
On Sunday, Kushare scaled 2.25m to qualify for the final after finishing joint seventh in Group B of the qualification round. He had ended at joint ninth in the overall rankings across two groups to become the first Indian high jumper to qualify for the finals in the World Championships.
He has been a consistent performer throughout the season, having dipped below 2.19m only once out of 10 outings.
He is also the first Indian high jumper to compete at the Olympics in the 2024 Paris Games, though he failed to get past the qualification round in the French capital last year.
