Top jumpers felicitated

The best jumpers of Karnataka had their moment in the spotlight as they were honoured by the Gaonkar's School of Jumpers (GSJ) here on Sunday.

At a simple function, the performers of the season gone by found their achievements recognised and lauded by one of the top coaches in the country, G V Gaonkar.

Recently-crowned national long jump champion S E Samsheer, pole vault queen Khyati Vakharia, triple jump winner B Aishwarya, bronze medallist Joyline Lobo and leading high jumper B Chetan were among those felicitated on the occasion, with Sports Authority of India's Regional Director M Shyam Sunder and GSJ President Uday K Prabhu doing the honours.

Veteran high jumper Sahana Kumari and a host of young and upcoming athletes were also felicitated on the occasion.

"This is a way to recognise their achievements and also to encourage them to perform even better," said Gaonkar, who urged the jumpers to ignite their minds and think big, instead of limiting themselves to smaller goals.

"Many of our athletes get satisfied by just qualifying for the Olympics. But what next after reaching there? They find that they are not prepared enough to win a medal and their journey ends up being shopping trips. They do not think of the next step which should be about winning medals," he said.