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Ancy Sojan competed in the long jump event in the 2023 Asian Games and returned with a silver medal from Hangzhou, China. Ancy finished second with a 6.63m jump, her personal best. The medal was India's 59th in the inter-continental event and played a huge role in the subsequent success of the nation in the overall medals tally.
India left China with a record haul of 107 medals, with 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze medals. This was a massive jump from the previous best of 70 medals won in Jakarta, Indonesia, in the 2018 Asian Games. Ancy's compatriots in track and field produced impressive results and the 22-year-old girl from Thrissur herself managed to add to the record tally.
With an aim to represent the country at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Ancy Sojan will look to improve on her current results in the face of increased competition.
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Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Ancy Sojan talked about her successful outing at the Asian Games, her feelings after the recent Asian Games success, and the nation's results along with providing insights into her compatriots' results.
Ancy talked about her recent campaign in China and the positives from her silver medal jump.
"I feel very proud and happy. I feel content that I am improving each and every year. This is a step forward to bigger stages," she said.
She also talked about her dream of breaching the 7m mark, her pride in donning the Indian jersey, and succeeding on the big stage of the Asian Games.
"Yes, I know it's a tougher distance. However, I am focusing on breaching the benchmark. I am training hard to see how far I can go. But, that is a dream goal for me to breach the seven-meter mark," she said.
"I've been thinking of wearing the Indian jersey since my childhood. It's a dream for me. Initially, it was being the state champion, then it was wearing the Indian jersey. Now that I have won a medal for India, I am very happy and feel proud. I have got what I want. We need to have a little patience to achieve it though," she added.
A trained classical dancer, Ancy Sojan talked about breaking into a jig after her victory in the confines of her private space.
"Yes, I did dance in my room. I studied a bit of classical dance, before stopping completely to focus on sports. But, I danced in my room without bothering anybody. I will dance because enjoy the music and I will break into a jig," she said.
She also talked about her mindset before a competition and said that she majorly aims at focusing on the process rather than the result.
"Before the competition, I tend to concentrate on the processes alone. I keep my cool and I feel no tension, no fear. I didn't aim for the medal, I just worked on the processes and the medal followed. So it worked, and I gave a good performance. I don't deeply focus on the pressure. I remain chill, read books, and listen to music. It is better to be free-minded before the competition for a good performance," she said.
"I need to maintain a fearless approach to the pool of players, and put up a good performance" - Ancy Sojan on 2024 Paris Olympics plans
Ancy Sojan also spoke about the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics and detailed her training methodologies for the event by highlighting the increased toughness and competition in the global event.
"I know it will be tougher next year. It's the Olympics, there will be a tougher qualification mark and the competition will be greater. I saw the World Championship results and witnessed the level of games at play. I need to participate in major events like those as the Asian Games is different from the Olympics. I need to maintain a fearless approach to the pool of players, and put up a good performance," she said.
"In Asian Games, we have competition from China, Japan, that kind of teams. But outside of Asia, at the world level, it's the Europeans and Americans. In my previous experience in the Commonwealth Games, I felt that they were great competitors. Europeans are changing every year, and Americans have four athletes qualified for the event. Only three percent get the chance to participate. So, the performance level is very high and competition is getting tougher," she added.
Coming back to the Asian Games, Ancy Sojan laughed about the cheat meals that she consumed after her victory and also talked about her compatriot Shaili Singh's performance and meeting her idols in China.
"I had pizza, then burger, then ice creams. I ate cakes, everything. I enjoyed the food. Generally, we control that kind of things. So I ate there in the village," she said.
Ancy talked about her friendship with Shaili Singh, and their camaraderie despite the latter missing out on an Asian Games medal.
"We had planned on wearing dresses on the podium initially. We were that confident of winning a medal. So, she is a little upset. Maybe, she was under pressure. It's hard for her. Afterwards, I hugged her. I feel she was very broken inside after that. She was teary-eyed. She lost the medal by two centimetres. We met in the village and went out for a walk and talked about different stories. I tried making her a little happy," Ancy said.
"Shaili is a little bit younger than me. I just told her after the competition to not focus on the past. We just talked and I told her to concentrate on upcoming events. We are good friends," she added.
Sharing her thoughts on India's historic performance this year at the games, Ancy said:
"This year it was a historic moment for India and I'm so happy that I added a medal to the 107. I played my part in the historic performance. So I'm very happy and proud of that."
Ancy also talked about her meetings with some of the biggest athletes from the Indian sporting world at the Asian Games, and how that helped her perform well.
"Yes, that was great. I met Neeraj Chopra before my competition. I was shocked that he said my name and asked me about my final long jump that day. I was surprised he knew my name. And after the competition, he appreciated me. A great motivation from a simple guy," she said.
"That was my first meeting with Neeraj. He is a world-level champion. So, his words were very powerful. It helped me perform better," she added.
The 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, was India's most successful event in the 19-year history of the tournament. Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, India will look to utilize the momentum of their success to do well in France.
