Sarvesh Kushara set a new national record in men’s high jump after clearing 2.31m in the 65th National Senior Inter-State Athletics Championship at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Friday. The athlete from Maharashtra also became the first Indian high jumper to officially clear the 2.30m mark.The 31-year-old surpassed the previous national record of 2.29m set by Tejaswin Shankar on April 27, 2018 in Lubbock. His jump also broke the meet record of 2.25m, set by B Chethan at the 2018 National Inter-State Championships in Guwahati.Kushare has already crossed the Asian Games qualification mark of 2.19 meters. He jumped 2.31m on his third attempt to set a new national record. After that, he made two attempts at 2.35m, but failed to clear the height.Tamil Nadu’s Aadarsh​​​​​​Ram finished second after clearing 2.25m.His effort also bettered the previous meet record and crossed the Asian Games qualification mark. Jesse Sandesh of Karnataka claimed third place with a jump of 2.19m, equal to the qualifying mark.The performance adds another achievement to Kushare’s career. He represented India at the Paris Olympics and has remained one of the country’s regular performers in the high jump at domestic and international competitions.His latest effort of 2.31m gives India a new national benchmark in the event ahead of a busy season that includes the Asian Games.Kushare also made history at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. He became the first Indian high jumper to qualify for the World Championship finals. He finished sixth with a then personal best of 2.28m, which remains the best finish by an Indian male high jumper in World Championship history.
