Eldhose Paul becomes first Indian to qualify for triple jump final in World Athletes Championship 2022

Indians woke up to some good news from Oregon in US where the World Athletics Championships 2022 is going on as three athletes from the country scripted history. After Neeraj Chopra and Rohit Yadav booked their spot in the final of the men’s javelin throw, Eldhose Paul became the first Indian to qualify for the final of the men’s triple jump. The 25-year-old jumped a best of 16.68m to make it to the final in the 12th and the final position. Eldhose had started off with a jump of 16.12m in the first attempt. He bettered the jump in the second attempt with a 16.68m leap. That second attempt took him to the 10th spot before he slipped to 12th eventually. 

Eldhose jumped 16.34m

In his final attempt, Eldhose jumped 16.34m but even before that jump, his place was assured in the final as Germany’s Max Heb has failed to go past Eldhose’s 16.68m. 

Eldhose belongs to Ernakulam in Kerala and has made rapid rise in the triple jump arena. He has had good outings in the Indian Open Jumps Competition and Indian Grand Prix-2. At the Indian Open, he produced an effort of 16.93m before adding extra 0.2cms at the Grand Prix-2. This was enough to get his name qualified for Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. 

The 25-year-old took up the sport quite late in life. It was his college in Kothamangalam, while he was pursuing the MA degree, where his journey began. He participated in an Athletics Meet at the college, which is known as the hub of emerging athletes. His first coach was TP Ouseph. He first started playing pole vault and cross country running but eventually fell in love with triple jump.  

Eldhose has an aim in sight. He wants to jump over 17m and is leaving no stone unturned to achieve it. Hopefully, he will produce his personal best in the final of the men’s triple jump.