Indian high jumper Pooja Singh struck gold at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, on Friday, ending a 25-year-long wait for India in the event. Her victory was a breath of fresh air for the country, which hadn’t seen a female high jump champion since Bobby Aloysius won gold in 2000 and silver in 2002.
Pooja’s win signaled a fresh wave in Indian athletics. At only 18, the young talent from Bosti village in Haryana’s Fatehabad district cleared a personal best of 1.89m, overcoming tough competition to become the youngest Indian to claim the Asian high jump title.
Pooja Singh’s Journey From Bosti Village To Asian Athletics Championships 2025
Pooja’s journey was full of hurdles long before she ever took a winning leap.
Born to a mason father and a homemaker mother, she grew up in Bosti village in Haryana’s Fatehabad district, where money was tight, but resolve ran deep.
Every step she took reflected her knack for making do, finding a way, and pushing forward with whatever was at hand.
Even at the Asian Athletics Championships, when Pooja’s shoe tore, she didn’t hesitate, she taped it up and pushed on.
That tape wasn’t just holding her shoe together; it carried the story of years of ‘jugaad’. That’s how it all began. Pooja’s coach, Balwan Singh, though mostly self-taught, was determined to shape her into an international contender.
With scarce resources, they got creative, a bamboo stick stood in for the high bar, sacks of rice husk made a makeshift landing mat, and a rubber tyre served as a springboard.
Meanwhile, her father often borrowed money just to send her to competitions, fueling her dreams despite the odds.
Now, with her gold medal at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships, Pooja’s journey is just beginning. It’s not only fans like us who see the significance of her achievement, Tejaswin Shankar also believes Pooja’s medal carries the deepest meaning.
Clearing a personal best of 1.89m in the women’s high jump, Pooja admitted the path to her first senior-level medal wasn’t easy, but the victory was a well-deserved reward for all her hard work and dedication.
Pooja Singh: Medal Record
Asian Athletics Championships 2025, Gumi - Gold Medal (1st place), High Jump
Asian U20 Championships 2023, Yecheon - Silver Medal (2nd place), High Jump
Asian U18 Championships 2023, Tashkent - Gold Medal (1st place), High Jump
Commonwealth Youth Games 2023, Trinidad and Tobago - Bronze Medal (3rd place), High Jump
