Praveen Chithravel sets national record in triple jump in Cuba

HAVANA: Indian triple jumper Praveen Chithravel set a new national record with an effort of 17.37 metres on his way to winning a gold medal in the Prueba de confrontacion 2023 athletics meet in Havana, Cuba.

Chithravel improved on the previous men's triple jump national record of 17.30m set by Renjith Maheswary at the third Indian Grand Prix in Bangalore in 2016.

Chithravel, who missed out on a podium finish at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, achieved his record-breaking mark on Saturday night with his fifth jump at the Prueba de confrontacion 2023 with a headwind reading of -1.5m/s. As the permissible wind assistance for official records is +2.0m/s.

In this meet in Cuba, TOPS athlete Chithravel made four jumps over 17m during the event and also qualified for the World Championships in Budapest, from August 19 to 27. T'e men's triple jump qualifying standard for Budapest 2023 is set at 17.20m.

Recently, Chithravel had a one-month training camp in Cuba which was followed by training and competitions in Greece and Europe.

The 21-year-old from Tamil Nadu has already qualified for the Asian Games 2023 with a 17.17m leap at the second Indian Open Jumps Competition in Bellary.

Before Saturday, Praveen Chithravel's personal best in the triple jump was 17.18m, recorded in Chennai last year.