Athletics U20: Shaili Singh Misses Gold By 0.01M In Long Jump, Neeraj Chopra Congratulates UP Girl

Neeraj Chopra also congratulated Shaili's coach Anju Bobby George for her 'Mentorship'. Shaili Singh bagged the silver medal and took India's medal tally to three.

Image: Twitter/ @ianuragthakur | AFP

World Athletics U20: The junior Athletics Champions were concluded on August 22. On the last day of the Games, India's Shaili Singh won a silver medal in the long jump. She missed the gold medal by just 0.01 m, i.e. one centimeter. Shaili performed a 6.59m jump in the final, while the gold medals Maja Askag of Sweden took a leap of 6.60. So close, ye so far for Shaili. 

Nonetheless, Shaili won a silver medal for India and took the medals tally to three. India won two silvers and one bronze medal this year. In the World Athletics U20 Medals table, India finished at the 21 rank with three medals. 

India's Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra congratulated Shaili for coming "so close to gold". He infused confidence by saying that Shaili has a long way to go in her career. He also congratulated Anju Bobby George for her 'Mentorship and guidance'. 

Take a look at Neeraj Chopra's tweet: 

Many congratulations, Shaili! You came so close to Gold today, and I'm sure you have a long way to go 💪🏾
Congratulations to @anjubobbygeorg1 ma'am for your mentorship and guidance to Shaili 🙏🏽 https://t.co/05W7FPBfsV

— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) August 22, 2021

Take a look at Shaili Singh's silver medal-winning jump:

Since there was no live telecast, this is a nice capture of Shaili Singh's 6.40m jump that took her to the women's long jump final at U20 Worlds. (via AFI)pic.twitter.com/HAfhIcZ5jp

— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) August 20, 2021

Shaili had qualified for the final with a 6.40 m jump. She only improved on her performance in the final. 

India's other two medals came in 4x400 Metres Relay (Bronze) and in 10,000 Metres Race Walk where Amit won silver.