Hop and very much in step, Paul and Aboobacker jump for a grand India 1-2

By the cramped lane for athletes to walk out of the Alexander Stadium and into the players enclosure, Eldhose Paul and Abdulla Aboobacker with their hand on the other’s shoulder with the overlapping Indian tri-colour. They spotted race walker Sandeep Kumar, who had just crossed the finish line to claim bronze, and gave him a hug.

PREMIUM

The duo took its time soaking in the buzzing vibe across the venue on the final day of athletics events on Sunday. More pressing issues, though, soon needed attention.

“We have to decide where to go out in the evening,” Aboobacker said.

Meet India’s triple jump 1-2 scripters—competitors and close friends. Paul and Aboobacker won gold and silver in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) competition, a feat that further elevates the country’s stature as it enjoys a high in jumps.

Paul won with a best of 17.03m in his third attempt. Aboobacker was just shy at 17.02m in his fifth. The third of the Indian triple jumpers, Praveen Chithravel, was close enough to join his compatriots on the podium with 16.89m, but Jah-Nhai Perinchief's first jump of 16.92m kept Chithravel at bay to ensure a Bermudan presence in this incredible Indian show. Amazingly, all three completed their full set of six jumps each, without a foul.

The troika also had each other for company at the World Championships in Eugene, showing the extent to which they have pushed each other to be part of the world’s elite collectively for India. While they do that vying to outdo the other, win events and add precious metres to their jumps, they also make plans for night outs for movies and dinner.

“We’re almost always together training in India or even outside for competitions. We eat, chill and go for movies together,” Aboobacker said. “Sometimes when I’m tired after a day’s work, Eldhose will call me and say, ‘eh come man, let’s go out’. I’ll do the same when he doesn’t feel like it. I was sick recently, just a few days before coming here. I was getting dizzy. I didn’t tell anyone about it except Eldhose. Him, I can trust with anything.”

“Out there, we fight,” Aboobacker added, pointing to the stadium. “Once we exit it, close friends,” he added, joining his fingers now.

Chithravel, whose season best of 17.18m was second best on the start list behind Aboobacker, rued his technical mistakes on the day, but was happy for his pals. “Eldhose and Aboobacker have been doing great,” he said.

They sure have. The triple jump field for this CWG wasn't the greatest; only Ben Williams of England had a better personal best (17.27) than Aboobacker and Chithravel. That's also down to the exceptional seasons they've all had. Coming into the CWG, Aboobacker had two 17-plus jumps this season, including a 17.19m at the Indian Grand Prix in May. Chithravel jumped 17.18 at the inter-state championships a month later in which Aboobacker was second with 17.14. Paul, the first Indian triple jumper to qualify for a Worlds final in Eugene, kept pushing the 17m mark only to cross it in Birmingham.

They also share an armed forces background. Paul is with the Navy while Aboobacker is with the Air Force. On Sunday, they kept pushing each other while also looking to achieve their medal dream.

Aboobacker noticed Paul wasn't getting the pace and rhythm in his run-up in his initial attempts. “I told him to do one controlled jump so that he falls in the top eight, and gets three more jumps. Then he can go all out,” Aboobacker said.

Paul told Aboobacker to go all out with his jumps. “We talk to each other about our technique, our rhythm on the runway. We’re always motivating each other,” Paul added. “From the coaches’ position in the stands, they cannot see the entire picture in terms of technique and rhythm. We’re in the field watching from close quarters, so we can see things others cannot.”

Just as Paul and Aboobacker were done with their victory lamp, Kumar finished his 10,000m race walk in 38:49.21. It was his personal best, the bronze coming behind Canada's Evan Dunfee (38:36.37) and Australia's Declan Tingay (38:42.33).

The 36-year-old Kumar, son of a farmer who dabbled in wrestling and kabaddi growing up in Haryana, switched to race walking after joining the Army. He had a poor Worlds, where he was 40th in the 20km race walk with a timing of 1:31:58. It was India’s second medal in race walking at this CWG after Priyanka Goswami’s 10km silver.

Annu gets bronze

Annu Rani won bronze in women’s javelin, her first medal at a major multi-nation event after the 2014 Asian Games. Her best throw of 60.00m came in the fourth attempt. Rani’s persistent ankle issue—she said she often experienced pain on the blocking foot due to a technical fault in her throwing—had held her back, but the 29-year-old was happy to have finally added to her medal cabinet. “There was a phase where I wasn’t winning medals and it was difficult,” she said.

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