Chennai, Jun 13 (IANS): Karnataka's Aishwarya Babu leapt a massive distance of 14.14m, breaking a national record in women's triple jump at the ongoing National Inter-State Athletics Meet here on Monday.
The 24-year-old from Bengaluru bettered Mayookha Johny's record of 14.11m set in 2011 by a mere 0.03m. With this attempt Aishwarya also went past the 2022 Commonwealth Games qualifying standards of 13.70m, set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
Renu of Haryana was a distant second with an effort of 13.43m, while Karthika Gothandapani was third with 13.25m.
"Certainly, I expected to break the National Record. This is something for which I have been practicing for long," Aishwarya said in a media interaction post her event.
Asked about her inspiration for this record leap, she said, "My speed and the explosive power. Until September last year by best in triple jump was 13.55m. I have improved significantly and a lot of it has to do with the increase in power and my speed."