KOCHI: Shahnavaz Khan is a young man of few words, but his ambitions are anything but modest. He has never been one to celebrate average results, and even on Sunday, as India rejoiced over his bronze medal at the World Athletics U-20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon, he remained far from satisfied.His best effort of 7.84m, which earned him third place in the men’s long jump, did not meet the standards he had set for himself.“I am not satisfied with my jumps,” Shahnavaz told TOI over the phone from Eugene. “The first two jumps were fine, but after the third attempt I began to feel cramps,” added the 19-year old.The youngster revealed that his target at the Worlds had been to produce a new personal best.“Before every competition, I set a mark in my mind. Here, I wanted to improve my personal best, but I could not do it,” said Shahnavaz who trains at SAI Thiruvananthapuram under Bhupinder Singh.His disappointment was easy to understand. Shahnavaz had arrived at the championships as one of India’s strongest medal hopes, even a potential contender for gold, after delivering two outstanding performances earlier in the season.His biggest leap came at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar in June, where he jumped 8.30m to set a new under-20 national record. That effort came while competing alongside his training partner and India’s leading long jumper, Murali Sreeshankar.Shahnavaz’s progress has been consistent. Last year, he claimed gold at the 38th National Games in February with a jump of 7.70m, and followed it with another gold at the Junior Federation Cup in June, where he recorded 7.90m.Tall, strong and muscular, he possesses the kind of explosive power at take-off that separates him from many leaner jumpers in his age group. Training with Sreeshankar has also played an important role in shaping his development.In Eugene, however, Shahnavaz could not find his best rhythm. He opened with 7.67m and 7.72m before registering his day’s best of 7.84m on the third attempt. His fifth jump appeared promising, but measured 7.83m, and he managed only 5.37m in the final round.Gold went to Italy’s Daniele Leonardo with 7.97m, leaving Shahnavaz to wonder what might have been had he approached his 8.30m personal best on the world stage.
