Olympics: Sahana Kumari fails to qualify for finals

Olympics: Sahana Kumari fails to qualify for finals

Mangalore Today News Network

August 9, 2012: India’s Sahana Kumari got knocked out of the women’s high jump at the Olympic Games after clearing 1.80m and finishing at joint 15th in the Group B of the qualifying competition here on Thursday.

The 30-year-old athlete sailed over the bar at the first attempt with a 1.80m leap but failed in her endeavour to clear the 1.85m mark in all her three attempts and got eliminated.

 

The Mangalore-based athlete had earlier made it to the Games with a leap of 1.92m at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Hyderabad on June 23, which erased the meet mark of 1.91m held by Bobby Aloysius of Kerala since 2004.

Sahana wanted her Ukrainian coach Nikhil Evgeny to accompany her to the Games. But the National Olympic Committee of India, Indian Olympic Association, sanctioned only quota of five athletic coaches at the maximum.

Sahana was unable to reimburse the travelling expenses of her coach. A non-governmental organization Ek Aur Prayaas helped Sahana to accumulate funds to take her coach to London

“My coach will offer valuable feedback about my competitors and help me train. I need him to accompany me. But I am a central government employee, with a salary of Rs 25,000. I can’t afford the burden of five lakh.” She said.