Long Jump gold, Hurdles PB – Moumita Mondal juggles two events with ease at National Games

Multitasking is tough. Even on a day-to-day basis juggling between two things sucks the life out of you.

Now, imagine having to do it at the biggest stage of your life.

That's the situation a young Moumita Mondal found herself in at the 2025 National Games on Sunday.

Mondal, 23, switched competing between women's 100m hurdles and long jump at the Ganga Athletics Ground. She did it remarkably as well, winning a silver medal in hurdles behind the experienced Jyoti Yarraji and then a gold in the long jump just minutes later.

"Too hectic," Mondal told reporters at the venue with a wry smile. "I had never won a gold medal in a senior competition before. I am very happy."

The schedule was harsh on Mondal. The two events she competed in clashed with each other. There were attempts made to move one of the events a bit later so that she could get enough rest between the two but those requests fell on deaf ears.

Mondal was told she would have to give her first long jump attempt a miss if she was to compete in the 100m hurdles final.

The officials on the field were considerate though. Even as the long jump event started first, they waited for her to return from hurdles before the second round of attempts started.

Mondal ran a personal best 13.36s in the hurdles and rushed to the long jump pit.

Her first attempt there read a disappointing 5.97m. Her body was yet to recover fully from the hurdles exertion.

"I was very tired," she said. "I wasn't able to run. There was a lot of lactic [acid] buildup in the body."

Thus, Mondal decided to give her second attempt a miss for a bit of rest.

She returned with a bang in the next round, recording a leap of 6.15m. She eventually bagged the gold medal in the long jump with a best attempt of 6.21m, registered two rounds later.

An exhausted Mondal skipped her final attempt too. But there was no dethroning her from the top spot.

This, however, is not the first time Mondal competed in multiple events in a competition. She's used to it, having competed in both events at the Federation Cup last year.

She's also an avid heptathlete but did not register her name in the eight-sport event at the National Games, owing to a shoulder injury.

Early days

Mondal hails from Jirat – a small village in Hoogly district of West Bengal. Her father runs a small tea shop in the village, while her mother runs tuition classes.

Mondal first picked up athletics in 2016, competing in district-level tournaments. Two years later she started training professionally. She started as a triple and long jumper but an unfortunate back injury meant she had to bid adieu to her triple jump dreams.

She still looks up to Christian Taylor – a two-time Olympic triple jump champion from the United States of America.

"I used to wake up at 3:30 am, and prepare my own food," recalled Mondal. "I then used to travel for two hours to get to the training ground.

"Once I returned, there were academics to look into. It was difficult," she added.

There were days when she wanted to quit sports altogether, but she persisted in her sheer passion.

"I read Bhagavad Gita a lot," she revealed. "It's written there that you should not worry about the results and just focus on your duties. That is my motivation."

Road ahead

With two medals at the National Games in her kitty, Mondal accepts she is far from where she wants to be.

She points out her technical flaws hurdles and rues the fact that she did not use the take-off board optimally in the long jump during her gold medal win on Sunday.

"I fly over the hurdles too much," she said. "I need to lower my leap over the barriers so that I don't lose a lot of time.

"I have the speed but not the best technique. I am quick off the blocks for the first 20-30 metres, but then my technical issues mean that I hit the barriers or something," Mondal explained further.

Though she is unsure of the event she wants to specialise in, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics remains her major long-term goal. She'll continue to compete in both events – hurdles and long jump – and even heptathlon, if her body permits this season.

"I am not sure about that [specialisation]," she said. "We'll see."

The LA Olympics is just a side quest for the youngster. Mondal's ultimate aim is something bigger.

"I'll have to leave sports sometime in life," she said. "But I want that when people look back, they say 'She made it'."

"That's the legacy I want to leave," asserted Mondal.