Praveen Chithravel registers 'national record' triple jump in Cuba

Triple jumper Praveen Chithravel came up with a historic jump at a competition in Havana, Cuba on Saturday. Though the mark is yet to be ratified, the jump - measuring 17.37 metres - is set to break the existing national record.

Renjith Maheshwary's 17.30m jump from 2016 has remained the national record in this discipline for a long time. However, the mark has been in danger over the last year from a young batch of jumpers - Chithravel himself, Abdullah Aboobacker and Eldhose Paul, who had a disappointing showing in the Doha Diamond League on Friday night.

The 17m mark has been a hallowed mark in triple jump for Indian athletes for many years, but it is a mark that has been broken earlier this year itself by the 21-year-old Chithravel from Tamil Nadu.

He had set a new meet record (17.17m) en route to his gold medal at the 2nd Indian Open Jumps Competition in March. Having picked up a silver medal at the Asian Indoor Championships earlier, he thus made a solid start to the outdoor season too.

Along with some other jumpers like Jeswin Aldrin, Arpinder Singh and Selva Prabhu, Chithravel is currently training in Cuba for a month under coach Yoandri Betanzos.

It was at a competition involving Cuban athletes and the Indian contingent that Chithravel made his 17.37m leap. Cuban triple jumper placed just behind him with a 17.34m leap, according to Depor Cuba.

Chithravel's 17.37m jump would also automatically qualify him for the World Championships in Budapest in August.

It remains to be seen if World Athletics and the Indian federation ratify the new mark.

Selva Prabhu sets U20 National Record

Meanwhile, the U20 World Championships silver medallist Selva Prabhu leapt a distance of 16.58m to set a new U20 Indian National Record in the same competition.

The previous record stood in the name of Arpinder Singh at 16.45m.