Sarvesh Kushare became the first Indian to win a silver medal in the men’s high jump at the Commonwealth Games after finishing second in Glasgow on Monday.The 31-year-old national record holder cleared 2.25m to claim the silver medal. Jamaica’s Romaine Beckford won gold, while England’s Jack Kimani took bronze with a jump of 2.20m.After clearing 2.25m, both Kushare and Beckford failed all their attempts at 2.28m. Beckford was awarded the gold on countback, leaving Kushare with the silver.The other Indian in the event, Adarsh Ram, finished fifth after clearing 2.15m.Before this, Tejaswin Shankar was the only Indian to win a medal in the men’s high jump at the Commonwealth Games, claiming bronze at Birmingham 2022. Kushare has now become the first Indian to win silver in the event.Tejaswin also competed on Monday but retired after failing to clear 2.05m in his first attempt. It was a precaution as he is scheduled to compete in the men’s decathlon starting on Thursday.The 27-year-old Tejaswin, whose personal best is 2.29m, has focused mainly on the decathlon over the past two years and has not competed regularly in individual high jump events.Kushare comes from Devargaon village in Maharashtra’s Nashik district. The son of an onion farmer, he trained in his early years using makeshift landing pits made of corn husks, cotton and agricultural waste, prepared by his father, who was also his childhood coach.Earlier this month, Kushare became the first Indian high jumper to finish on the podium at a Diamond League meet. On his debut in Monaco, he cleared 2.26m to finish third in a strong field.Last month, he set a new national record of 2.31m while winning gold at the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar.Kushare became only the fourth Indian athlete to finish in the top three of a Diamond League event after javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, long jumper Murali Sreeshankar and former discus thrower Vikas Gowda.
