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Indian athlete Praveen Chithravel gave a major boost to Indian Athletics during an event in Havana, Cuba. The boy from Tamil Nadu broke the previous national record in the triple jump and set a new one.
Crossing the 17m barrier is a major landmark for Indian triple jumpers. Praveen went a distance of 17.37m, which broke the old record of 17.30m. The win in this event opened his outdoor season at a high benchmark.
Before winning the gold medal at the 2nd Indian Open Jumps competition back in March 2023, Praveen had went as far as 17.17m in the tournament. Although most Indian athletes have found it difficult to get to the 17m mark, Praveen achieved the feat multiple times.
Arpinder Singh and Renjith Maheshwary are two other Indians to have breached the 17m mark
The last athlete who was successful in achieving this landmark was Renjith Maheshwary. In 2016, Renjith jumped 17.30m and set the national record for the long jump. It stayed untouched for many years till Praveen came into the circuit.
Holding a record for that long isn't everyone's cup of tea. Renjith breached the 17m mark twice in his career. He did it first in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and held the record until 2014. In the Indian Grand Prix meet in Bengaluru 2016, Renjith took back the record with a 17.30m jump.
Arpinder Singh was the other runner who went over the 17m mark. He bettered his record of 16.84 in the Lucknow National Inter-state Championship, setting a national record of 17.17m and breaking Renjith's milestone mark in 2014. This performance earned him entry into the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
