Sarvesh Anil Kushare on Sunday became the first Indian to qualify for high jump final at the World Athletics Championships while national record holder Gulveer Singh finished 16th in the 10,000m race with a below-par performance here.
The 30-year-old Kushare, who made it to the showpiece at the 34th spot among 36 competing athletes through world ranking quota, scaled 2.25m to finish joint seventh in Group B of the qualification round. He ended at joint ninth in the overall rankings across two groups.
Those who touched the automatic qualifying mark of 2.30m or at least 12 best made it to the final round to be held on Tuesday. Kushare has a personal best of 2.27m, which he had recorded way back in 2022, and a season best of 2.26m. He won a silver medal in the 2023 Asian Championships.
He has been a consistent performer throughout the season so far, having dipped below 2.19m only once out of 10 outings before Sunday. Son of an onion farmer in a nondescript village near Nashik in Maharashtra, Sarvesh used to practice on fodder-made makeshift mats early in his career but went on to become the first Indian high jumper to qualify for the Olympics in the 2024 Paris Games.
