<p>Bengaluru: Krishna Jayasankar only recently became the new record-holder (16.03 metres) for indoor shot put among Indian women at the Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championship held in Albuquerque. </p><p>Naturally, she’s happy about it. But, besides getting a sense that she isn’t done picking up laurels for throwing, you hear of her real victories in the tone of her voice when she speaks of the things she has overcome to get here.</p><p>Kerala’s Jayasankar Menon and Prasanna Jayasankar are former Indian national basketball players, meaning they’re bigger than most people you’d call normal. So, daughters Archana Jayasankar and Krishna were born with this physiology, but the youngest one was a bit more like her father. </p><p>“I have the physique of my father, and in India (the family eventually migrated to Chennai) I didn’t understand the beauty of my image,” she tells DH. “I was so innocent and I didn’t understand why people would make fun of me. I didn’t even understand what body shaming meant. I would quarrel with my mother because she would always tell me to reduce weight. Mentally, it was suffocating. I had a lot of grief, and a lot of anger.</p>.ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Phantom of the opera.<p>“My mother and I would go at it. I was muscular and I didn’t have any health issues so why lose weight?! I was not a normal household woman so I wanted to wear what I wanted, but my mother would tell me people would curse me or look at me indecently. I would lock myself in the room and cry. I genuinely didn’t feel beautiful. Only after I moved to Jamaica did I realise that my body is beautiful. It took a long time to appreciate my body.” </p><p>Getting to Jamaica was another matter. Krishna started off playing tennis as a child, but started to pursue discus throw and shot put upon the insistence from one of her coaches. </p><p>As she grew, so did her throws, but she needed to dial in on the technique. Until now, it was brute force. Signed to Tenvic Sports in Guntur, she worked with Jamaican coach Michael Wessel. </p><p>“… Then the Covid-19 lockdown happened. The academy had to close and Wessel stayed with us at our place. We created a throwing area and we kept working on her. Wessel then asked if she wanted to train under him in the academy he has in Jamaica and she agreed,” says Jayasankar. </p><p>“We were apprehensive because of the crime rate in Jamaica, but we knew this would make her great so we let her go. Getting there was a problem because of all the logistical hurdles (in 2021), but she eventually trained there for six months.”</p><p>As her perception of her body improved in Jamaica, so did her distances. She took on the scholarship at the University Of Texas El Paso, making her the first female thrower from India to receive an NCAA Division One Scholarship, and then moved to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in her second year.</p><p>“She is easily one of the strongest athletes I have in the programme,” says UNLV coach Jordan Roach. “She had some tweaks to make regarding her technique, we had to improve her entry, but she is getting there.”</p><p>“The biggest difference now is that after she cracked the 15-metre barrier in February, she has grown consistently.”</p><p>But Krishna isn’t only set on breaking barriers with shot put, she hasn’t entirely let go of discus yet, and Roach reckons she can do both at the highest level. “I think these disciplines can complement each other because it’s all about rhythm and speed, and we have also worked on her right foot in the middle so that’s very useful for discus too,” he says. </p><p>Surely, that’s a possibility for someone who now believes the world is hers to own. But she isn't without reason in this pursuit. </p><p>“I am living the American dream right now, but I will not give up my Indian passport or my Indian identity, That’s who I am and that’s who I will represent. I just need to keep up the numbers,” she says. “The 2028 Olympics is the focus but the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games too.”</p><p>At least now, it’s just a 4-kilo ball on her shoulder and not the weight of being subjected to body shaming. </p>
<p>Bengaluru: Krishna Jayasankar only recently became the new record-holder (16.03 metres) for indoor shot put among Indian women at the Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championship held in Albuquerque. </p><p>Naturally, she’s happy about it. But, besides getting a sense that she isn’t done picking up laurels for throwing, you hear of her real victories in the tone of her voice when she speaks of the things she has overcome to get here.</p><p>Kerala’s Jayasankar Menon and Prasanna Jayasankar are former Indian national basketball players, meaning they’re bigger than most people you’d call normal. So, daughters Archana Jayasankar and Krishna were born with this physiology, but the youngest one was a bit more like her father. </p><p>“I have the physique of my father, and in India (the family eventually migrated to Chennai) I didn’t understand the beauty of my image,” she tells DH. “I was so innocent and I didn’t understand why people would make fun of me. I didn’t even understand what body shaming meant. I would quarrel with my mother because she would always tell me to reduce weight. Mentally, it was suffocating. I had a lot of grief, and a lot of anger.</p>.ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Phantom of the opera.<p>“My mother and I would go at it. I was muscular and I didn’t have any health issues so why lose weight?! I was not a normal household woman so I wanted to wear what I wanted, but my mother would tell me people would curse me or look at me indecently. I would lock myself in the room and cry. I genuinely didn’t feel beautiful. Only after I moved to Jamaica did I realise that my body is beautiful. It took a long time to appreciate my body.” </p><p>Getting to Jamaica was another matter. Krishna started off playing tennis as a child, but started to pursue discus throw and shot put upon the insistence from one of her coaches. </p><p>As she grew, so did her throws, but she needed to dial in on the technique. Until now, it was brute force. Signed to Tenvic Sports in Guntur, she worked with Jamaican coach Michael Wessel. </p><p>“… Then the Covid-19 lockdown happened. The academy had to close and Wessel stayed with us at our place. We created a throwing area and we kept working on her. Wessel then asked if she wanted to train under him in the academy he has in Jamaica and she agreed,” says Jayasankar. </p><p>“We were apprehensive because of the crime rate in Jamaica, but we knew this would make her great so we let her go. Getting there was a problem because of all the logistical hurdles (in 2021), but she eventually trained there for six months.”</p><p>As her perception of her body improved in Jamaica, so did her distances. She took on the scholarship at the University Of Texas El Paso, making her the first female thrower from India to receive an NCAA Division One Scholarship, and then moved to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in her second year.</p><p>“She is easily one of the strongest athletes I have in the programme,” says UNLV coach Jordan Roach. “She had some tweaks to make regarding her technique, we had to improve her entry, but she is getting there.”</p><p>“The biggest difference now is that after she cracked the 15-metre barrier in February, she has grown consistently.”</p><p>But Krishna isn’t only set on breaking barriers with shot put, she hasn’t entirely let go of discus yet, and Roach reckons she can do both at the highest level. “I think these disciplines can complement each other because it’s all about rhythm and speed, and we have also worked on her right foot in the middle so that’s very useful for discus too,” he says. </p><p>Surely, that’s a possibility for someone who now believes the world is hers to own. But she isn't without reason in this pursuit. </p><p>“I am living the American dream right now, but I will not give up my Indian passport or my Indian identity, That’s who I am and that’s who I will represent. I just need to keep up the numbers,” she says. “The 2028 Olympics is the focus but the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games too.”</p><p>At least now, it’s just a 4-kilo ball on her shoulder and not the weight of being subjected to body shaming. </p>