Nayana James (born 18 October 1995) is an Indian athlete competing in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

event. She gained a bronze medal at 2017 Asian Athletics Championships – Women's long jump while her compatriot,

Neena Varakil Neena Varakil (born 2 May 1991) is a former Indian athlete who competed internationally in the long jump event. Life Neena Varakil was born on May 2, 1991, at Meppayur, Calicut, which is also known as Kozhikode. In 2017 her personal best wa ...

, took silver.

Early life

Nayana was born on 18 October 1995 in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

, a district in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

state, India. She was discovered by KM Peter, a former athlete, while she was a student at St. George's Higher Secondary School in Kozhikode. In 2010, Nayana shifted to the institute of the

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is the apex national sports body of India, established in 1982 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of Government of India for the development of sports in India. SAI has 2 Sports Academic institution ...

Thalassery Thalassery (), formerly Tellicherry, is a municipality, Commercial City on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahé (Pondicherry), Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kasaragod and Kodagu (Karna ...

, Kerala to train under Jose Mathew, former coach of the renowned athlete Mayookha Johny.

Career

Nayana shot to fame after her gold-winning performance at the 21st Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships at Patiala in 2017. James recorded a 6.55m jump in the long jump event, her personal best. At the 22nd Federation Cup in Patiala, Nayana continued her streak by winning another gold in the long jump event. Nayana's 6.55m jump is among the Top 5 Indian performances in long jump event history. In 2018, she secured the 12th place in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Women's Long Jump event. At the 2018 Asian Indoors Games, Nayana bagged the silver medal with a leap of 6.08m in Women's Long Jump.

References

External links

* Sportspeople from Kozhikode 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Indian female long jumpers Sportswomen from Kerala 1995 births Living people Athletes from Kerala Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for India Commonwealth Games competitors for India {{India-sport-bio-stub