At 6.76 metres, long jumper Shaili Singh is now second only to Anju Bob George

After winning the silver at the World Under-20 Championships, long jumper Shaili Singh didn’t jump or train for nearly eight months. At Nairobi in August 2021, Shaili had leapt 6.59 metres to win silver. She was the toast of the town but during the final, she felt discomfort in her back. The high of finishing on the podium was short-lived.
Lower spine stress fracture was the diagnosis. “It is an injury usually associated with fast bowlers because of hyper movement of the back. It is uncommon for a long jumper to suffer from a stress fracture of the back. It was a challenging time. We had to be patient and not rush her back to competition,” Robert Bob George, her coach said.
Shaili spent a lot of time with the physio. She could not lift heavy weights, train, or jump and lost muscle mass. It took a toll on her mental well-being and doubts about her ability clouded her mind. Once the back healed, a toe injury occurred during hurdle training. For most of last year, she wasn’t a hundred per cent fit. But she did bide her time.

After struggling with injuries for some time, 19-year-old Shaili Singh comes back with a huge leap of 6.76m at the Indian Grand Prix. The effort puts her in 2nd spot in the all-time best India l behind her mentor legendary @anjubobgeorg1 @IExpressSports pic.twitter.com/Dql6g7cwSN
— Andrew (@AndrewAmsan) April 15, 2023
The 19-year-old jumped 6.76 metres on Saturday — the second best ever an Indian after Anju Bob George’s 6.83 metres at the Athens Olympics — to finish first at the Indian Grand Prix-4 in Bengaluru. Two months back at the Asian Indoor Championships in Astana, she had failed to get on the podium with 6.27 metres. There was a world of difference between Astana and Bengaluru.
At the Kanteerava Stadium, Shaili put together a series of outstanding jumps. 6.58, foul, 6.76, 6.64, foul and 6.66. Three of them were better than her personal best, achieved at Nairobi. Nayana James was second with a best jump of 6.53 metres while Karthika Gothandapani (6.15) was third.Shaili getting close to the nearly two-decade-old national record was the highlight of the Grand Prix.
“At the Asian Indoor Championships, she was inconsent with her approach on the runway. But today it was much better. I felt her second jump was good enough to break Anju’s national record. Unfortunately, it was a foul,” Robert said.
Going past 6.75 metres is like breaking a barrier, the coach believes.
“She is still just 19. For her age, she has really done well. She will only get stronger and her technique will improve further. It is not just about breaking Anju’s national record but about being consent, especially at big competitions when it matters,” Robert, who coached Anju and is her husband, said.
Apart from the dance, Robert is also happy about improvements in certain parameters, like vertical jump velocity at take-off. “The results have just come and her vertical jump velocity is 3.45 metres per second. Last year during the National Games in October it was 1.7. Our aim is to take it up to 3.6. That is a very good reading for a woman long jumper, especially at her age” Robert added.
This year Shaili is targeting two major international competitions; the World Championships in Budapest for which she is trying to bag ranking points to qualify for, and the Asian Games.
“A top-eight finish at the World Championships and a medal at the Asian Games are the targets. Today, I was excited and relieved that she improved her personal best and came close to breaking the national record. When she was dealing with the stress fracture, she wasn’t in the best mental space. But she has put those days behind her,” the coach added.
From August 2021 to March last year, Shaili was only allowed to do rehabilitation exercises. The first month after she was diagnosed with the stress fracture, Shaili was advised bed rest. It left her frustrated. “I had to ensure she didn’t go into a state of negativity. Anju spoke to her about injury management and also gave examples of how she bounced back from injury. Confidence is a huge factor and I didn’t want her to lose that,” Robert said.
Robert is convinced Shaili is an outstanding talent and has a bright future. He had first watched her jumping at the junior national championships in Mangalagiri, Vijayawada, in 2017. Shaili finished fifth but the coach didn’t go just the result. He convinced her mother, a single parent, to let Shaili shift from Jhansi to Bengaluru. The partnership of the coach and the young jumper has been successful.
Robert usually gives her a target before a competition. “For the Indian Grand Prix, I had set 6.70 metres as her target. Of course, each target is based on how prepared she is for a particular event. But she meets these targets. But we have a tougher one ahead.”