One jump at a time: After success at Junior Nationals, Sadhana Ravi determined to pursue Olympic dream

Sadhana Ravi won triple jump gold and long jump silver at this year’s junior Federation competition. | Photo Credit: Sivasankar. A

Sadhana Ravi won long jump gold at home on Saturday, but the distance she has been chasing all season remained seven centimetres away.

The Tamil Nadu athlete’s 5.93m effort secured the women’s under-20 title at the National Junior Athletics Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai. It was also just one centimetre short of the personal best that had brought her the under-18 crown in Bhubaneswar last year.

For the 18-year-old, the victory came with another immediate concern. Back pain had troubled her through the competition, and with the triple jump to follow on Tuesday, recovery was taking priority over further preparation.

“I probably might rest the next two days without doing any warm-up because my back is hurting a lot,” Sadhana said after her victory. “I am going to give more priority to that.”

The prospect of resting between events reflects a familiar balancing act this season. Even before the back trouble in Chennai, a persistent knee problem had required her to adapt her training while trying to improve in both jumps.

Speaking to Sportstar before the championships, Sadhana traced the knee pain to last year’s Junior Nationals, where she said she slipped slightly at the take-off board. Rehabilitation accompanied her training over the following months, but the problem continued into the new season.

There were encouraging performances along the way. In March, she competed against seniors at the Indian Open Jumps competition and raised her triple jump personal best to 13.08m. Having crossed 13 metres in training, she had expected to reach that distance in competition.

Her knee worsened again, however, and later in the season the discomfort limited how much jumping she could do in practice. Sessions relied more on a short approach, leaving fewer opportunities to assess her progress through full jumps.

Her coach, physiotherapist and strength and conditioning trainer coordinated their work to manage the knee and keep her competing. Sadhana credits that support, alongside her parents’ involvement, for helping her through the season.

She won triple jump gold and long jump silver at this year’s junior Federation competition, before adding a triple jump silver at the Asian U20 Championships. She felt she had given her full effort at the Asian meet, but was not entirely satisfied with the performance. Having already gone beyond 13 metres, she had arrived hoping to improve her personal best.

In Chennai, too, her ambitions extended beyond a place on the podium. Before the meet, she had spoken of improving her personal bests in both events. Saturday brought her close in the long jump, despite the interrupted preparation, but left the six-metre target for another competition.

Her commitment to both events has its origins in her father’s sporting background. Ravi had competed in the long jump and triple jump, although his daughter initially followed her brother Raswant Ravi into tennis, taking up the sport at five.

Around the age of 10, she decided tennis was not for her. Ravi told her about his own experience in the jumps and suggested she give athletics a try. Sadhana is careful to distinguish that encouragement from pressure: her father left the decision to her, and she chose to follow his example.

At Nehru Park in Chennai, Ravi began by helping her build strength before introducing her to jumping. Long jump came first, with triple jump added later. He coached her through her early years and still accompanies her to training.

She subsequently began working with Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu coach Bedros Bedrosian, whose changes to her technique she credits with improving her performances.

Under him, preparing for two events means giving each its own attention. Sadhana usually devotes a week to long jump and another to triple jump. Long jump sessions emphasise speed before progressing to the approach and short jumps. In triple jump, controlling her speed and entering the hop comfortably are priorities, with the hop, step and jump also practised separately.

The transition between them requires a mental adjustment as well. Familiarity with both events does not mean she can switch immediately from one set of movements to the other.

“I wouldn’t get my technique immediately. I need to sit down, focus and give a full recap of what I did in the triple jump. Then I’ll go into the event,” she explained.

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Studying psychology at SRM has given her another way to understand that process. She had originally wanted to become a veterinarian, but developed an interest in psychology while studying it at school and chose to pursue it at university. Applying what she learns to sport, she said, has helped her recognise what she is doing and what she needs to change, bringing greater clarity to her training.

Her longer-term ambition remains to represent India at the Olympics in both jumps. “I am training my best, and I am not going to give up till I do that,” she said on Saturday.

For now, that ambition gives way to a more immediate task. With a long jump gold secured and the triple jump scheduled for October 27, Sadhana’s next two days will be shaped by how her back responds to rest.