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| Hari Shankar Roy |
Calcutta: High jumper Hari Shankar Roy jumped into the spotlight with a silver medal-winning performance at the Asian All-Star athletics meet in Singapore last month. In the process, the athlete from Bengal created a new national mark, leaping 2.25m.
Present with him at the All-Star meet were ace long jumper Anju Bobby George (who won the gold) and heptahlete Soma Biswas among others. And Hari feels that it is Anju?s words that had been inspirational.
?Anju di acted as a great motivator. She told me to stay focused on the jump and not get distracted. She told me that I am young and have lots of time to improve myself. But that I should be committed to the cause,? Hari, who reached the city on Tuesday morning from his village (South Dhupgura in Jalpaiguri district), said. The high jumper was present for a practice session at SAI Calcutta and left for Meerut Tuesday evening to participate in the inter-zonal athletics to be held from October 14 to 16.
Speaking about his experience in Singapore, Hari said, ?After Anju di?s and Soma di?s events were over they all came over to where I was participating. They provided a lot of encouragement.? Hari said that during practice he couldn?t even cross 2.15m, but he turned the tables to create a new national mark in Singapore.
?There were two Olympians, one from China, who came first and another from Lebanon,? Hari said.
Hari is targeting the gold in the 2006 Asian Games to be held in Doha. ?To achieve that I need to jump 2.30m.?