Ancy Sojan, having eclipsed Anju Bobby George’s 22-year-old National mark of 6.83m set at the 2004 Athens Olympics, has a clear target: the Asian Games gold in Aichi-Nagoya in September this year.“I want to bring the gold medal with a high class jump. I am aiming for the Asian Games record also so that I can directly qualify for the World championship next year. 6.86m is the qualification mark (for the Worlds) and the qualifying period will start from August 23,” said Ancy, who clinched a silver medal at the last Asian Games in 2023 with a jump of 6.63m. She is now the Asian season leader, thanks to her effort of 6.88m at the National inter-State athletics meet in Bhubaneswar recentlyOn her exceptional performance in hot and humid conditions, Ancy — who had recorded her personal best of 6.75m at the Federation meet in Ranchi in May — said, “I came here to do my personal best and be a good world class performer. I didn’t aim for the National Record.”She was relieved with the breakthrough. “Finally it happened, I felt like I was getting tired but I remembered ‘What if I go to represent our country and if I feel tired?’ Suddenly, I remembered my last Asian Games and I got a boost. With all the belief, I took a good breath and jumped, it happened.”She’s happy with the progress but wants more. “I am so happy that I am improving. I think, let’s aim higher than this.An experiment“Mentally and physically it’s like an experiment. You get tired but still you have to jump because you train for that. I want the energy, after 10 jumps I want to stay the same. Each and every training session I am thinking about the target I want to achieve, so that it helps me push more. Today I thought I was competing in the Asian Games and I felt that someone could beat me, so I needed to grab the medal for our nation. Suddenly it encouraged me, it’s fun.”For Ancy, the record-breaking jump, which pushed her to seventh place among world leaders this season, sent a message. “This is a statement that India also has good jumpers, if someone works hard she can achieve it. Just believe in yourself, be patient and be dedicated to our work. People will say things but never mind, be true to yourself. I do the same.”