MADURAI: 18-year-old Selva Prabhu Thirumaran of Madurai bagged the gold medal in the men’s triple jump event at the Venizelia-Chania International 2023 held in Greece.
By registering a jump of 16.78m in his second attempt in the finals, Prabu broke the junior national record for men’s triple jump and recorded his personal best as well.
Selva Prabhu (18) of Kodimangalam area in Madurai is shining bright in International athletic events. Selva Prabhu won second place and bagged a silver medal in the World Athletics U20 Championships with a jump of 16.15m in Colombia last year.
Sources said that the earlier national record in the triple jump was 16.63. With his personal best of 16.78m, Selva Prabhu set the junior national record bar even higher.
With happy tears running down his cheeks, Thirumaran, father of Selva Prabhu from Madurai told TNIE, “He started his athletics career when he was just 12 years, at first he showed interest in running and long jump events. Later, one of his coaches named Srinivasan suggested choosing triple jump. After rigorous training, he secured many medals over the years in various events including the all-Indian university events, the Khelo India event and other national events. Prabhu is currently training at JSW Bellary. We are very proud of our son’s achievement.”
He recalled that at the age of 12, Prabhu won 6000 rupees and a medal in a local sporting event held in Madurai for the first time. Now, he won the gold medal in an International event. Thirumaran said that his son’s goal is to get a podium finish at the Asian and Olympic events.
TN governor RN Ravi appreciated Selva Prabhu’s achievements in the international event through the official Twitter page of Raj Bhavan.
