Jaipur: Hailing from a remote hamlet in Anupgarh tehsil of Sriganganagar, 19-year-old Basant Kumar Meghwal scripted history Saturday by becoming the first Indian athlete to win a high jump medal at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene in the US state of Oregon.The podium finishers all maxed out at a height of 2.21 meters, meaning final placements were decided entirely by countback rules based on missed attempts. Algerian Younes Ayachi clinched gold by sailing over the bar cleanly on his first attempt.Basant secured a momentous, personal-best silver by clearing the bar on his second run, while Great Britain’s Otis Poole took bronze after going over successfully on his third and final try.The landmark achievement caps an extraordinary breakout season for Basant, who also clinched gold at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong earlier this year.Basant’s journey to athletics glory, though, began quite accidentally!One day, as he was tending cattle after having missed classes, the physical training instructor at his school, Iqbal Singh Maan, happened to pass by. Fearful of being caught skipping school, Basant leapt cleanly over a wire fence to avoid being spotted.“His teacher saw the jump, fortunately, and immediately recognised his talent. After that, he began to train my son for the high jump,” Basant’s father Gangaram Meghwal told TOI.“Before that, we didn’t know what high jump was or that such a sport even existed,” he added.The path to international glory, however, required massive sacrifices from the family.“I am a daily wage driver without any land of my own, making barely Rs 13,000 a month on which to raise two children,” Gangaram said.“I had to take loans from relatives and private lenders to finance my son’s training, diet and equipment. Just a single pair of high jump shoes cost Rs 15,000. We still carry a debt of around Rs 3.5 lakh because sports expenses are extremely high,” he added.Despite the financial burden, Gangaram kept his son’s focus firmly on his sport. “I told him not to worry about money because the loans will eventually be paid off. I asked him to focus instead on making a name for himself. Today, seeing our child achieve a world medal brings me tremendous joy,” Gangaram said.Basant now represents the Indian Navy, a career move facilitated by a sports quota entry.“When he started performing well, people told us that it would secure his future, and it did! The Navy job changed everything for him – it gave him stability while enabling him to pursue his athletics career without worrying about basic sustenance,” Gangaram said.
