Praveen Chithravel admits he was surprised with national record jump at Asian Indoor Athletics

New Delhi, Feb 16 Praveen Chithravel who has created an indoor national record in the men's triple jump to clinch the silver medal at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships has admitted that he was surprised with a record effort of 16.98m jump.

"We are still in the off-season. We got ourselves prepared just 20 days prior to the event. This is the first competition of this year for us and my coach told me that you have to jump like 16.80. There is no issue as we are still in the off-season. But I was quite surprised with my 16.98m jump," Chithravel told .

The youngster, who had a personal best jump of 17.18m at the National Inter-State Championships last year, has crossed the 16.80m mark four times and has shown good consistency in his performance lately.

The 22-year-old triple jumper burst into limelight after clinching a bronze medal at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires in October 2018. He followed that up by making the finals of the World University Games in 2019.

Now the youngster has set his eye on the 2023 Asian games and World Championships to showcase his skills at the bigger stage.

In the previous edition of the Asian Games in Indonesia, Arpinder Singh clinched India's first men's triple jump gold in 48 years at the 2018 with a best effort of 16.77m.

Asked about his preparation for the Asiad and India's last previous performance putting any sort of pressure on him, Chithravel said: "No pressure on me, I am just 22. I am looking forward to the Asian Games and World championships. The process and training are going well. My coach is making me do different exercises and helping me in making my technique better. I hope I will give my best to get a gold at the Asian Games."

Chithravel had a good 2022 season, having participated in a foreign meets and gaining valuable experience. The Tamil Nadu triple jumper has set a new meet record of 17.18m at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships last year to breach the entry standard for worlds is 17.14m.

"I was in a good condition before the Worlds. At the Inter-State National Championships, I recorded 17.19 and was working to get better at it. At the World Championships my first jump was 17.10. I didn't have any experience of electronic jumping board. Though, I missed the place in the finals but had a learning experience," the 22-year-old said on his first World Championships appearance.

Chithravel is currently training under the coach Yoandri Betanzos, a former world-class triple jumper and two-time world championships silver medallist, at the Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS) in Bellary, Bengaluru.

Speaking about the facilities and the kind of training he has received at IIS , the national record holder said: "It is the best place for athletes to get trained. It is perfect for professional athletes as all the facilities are available here from the gym to track and many more.