World Athletics Championships: Shaili Singh fails to qualify for Women’s Long Jump Final

Shaili Singh failed to qualify for the women’s long jump final at the World Athletics Championships 2023 with a best jump of 6.40m.

Indian athletes have struggled to crack the long jump code over the years. Anju Bobby George won a bronze medal at the World Championships in 2003 and finished fifth at the Olympics in Athens in 2004, but no other athlete has carried on the torch.

While Murali Sreeshankar, a silver medalist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, aspires to be the next big name in men’s athletics, young Shaili Singh has been very impressive in women’s athletics.

WHO IS SHAILI SINGH?

Shaili Singh was born on January 7, 2004, in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, to Vinita Singh, a single mother of three children (two girls and a boy). Shaili came from a low-income family. Her mother ran a small tailoring shop to help support the family. However, the early days were difficult.

“Forget spikes, we could not even afford a pair of normal running shoes,” Shaili told the Indian Express. “I saw the boys in my school competing in races and thought ‘if they can, why can’t I?”

“I started running barefoot and would often return home with blisters on my feet. My mother would weep at the sight,” Shaili recalled.