The triple jump field had a 17m man in Karthik Unnikrishnan and T. Selva Prabhu, last year’s World junior silver medallist with a personal best of 16.78m. But A.B. Arun somehow felt very good as he warmed up for the 37th National Games final at the Bambolin Athletics Stadium here on Thursday. And in the end Arun, the 24-year-old National Open champion, walked away with the gold bettering the Games record and his personal best.
“I was worried after an early foul but I’m happy I could get my best in the last jump,” said Arun, the Navy athlete who hails from Thiruvananthapuram, who improved his personal best from last month’s 16.46m to 16.79 here. Karthik, who has a personal best of 17.10m, took the silver (16.57) while Selva was a centimetre behind for the bronze.
