Kuala Lumpur: National high jumper Nauraj Singh Randhawa
(pic), who celebrated his 29th birthday on Wednesday (Jan 27), renewed his own indoor national record at the Indoor Track and Field Vienna 2021 on Saturday (early Sunday in Malaysia).
Nauraj jumped 2.20 metres (m), 0.01 m higher, to set the new record in Austria, according to official results at http://www.trackandfieldvienna.com.
His previous record of 2.19m was set at the 21st Erdgas Indoor Athletics Championships in Chemnitz, Germany on Feb 10, 2019.
The record breaking feat also helped the three-time SEA Games champion to finish second behind 2018 World Cup bronze medallist Tobias Potye of Germany who jumped 2.26m, while the hosts’ Lionel-Afan Strasser finished third with 2.11m.
It was the Europe-based Nauraj’s first meet after almost a year wait due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Johorean last competed at the Sydney Track Classic (outdoor) on Feb 22 last year, before the pandemic caused a hiatus in international sporting calendars.
Meanwhile, national athletics chief coach Mohd Manshahar Abdul Jalil said the record will be officially ratified once the relevant documents were received by the Malaysian Athletics Federation.
“A good start for Nauraj with a jump of 2.20m so far this year. Nauraj will continue training abroad.
“We also hope that he will be able to maintain his performance and do the same in outdoor meets so that he can qualify for the Tokyo Olympics on merit,” he told Bernama.
Nauraj, who also holds the outdoor national record of 2.30m, has to jump 2.33m or higher to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics on merit with the qualification period ending on June 29.
