Ancy Sojan led the women’s long jump for almost the entire final at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 , then watched gold slip away by two centimetres. China’s Huang Yingying produced 6.55m on her last attempt at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Sunday, September 27. Sojan’s best was 6.53m. The 25-year-old from Thrissur took silver, her second straight Asian Games medal in the event after Hangzhou.
Tan Mengyi of China then jumped 6.46m on her final effort to take bronze and push India’s Shaili Singh down to fourth with 6.42m.
opened with 6.49m and sat first from attempt one. A foul in the second round did not cost her the lead. In the fifth round she improved to 6.53m after Huang had drawn level at 6.49m. One jump later, Huang found 6.55m. Sojan’s last effort measured 6.49m again. Gold was gone.
The same late twist hit Shaili. She had moved into third with 6.41m, then 6.42m, before Tan’s 6.46m leap took the bronze. India left with silver and fourth.
Ancy Sojan Edappilly was born on March 1, 2001, in Nattika, Thrissur district, Kerala. She began as a sprinter before switching to the long jump and now trains at the Reliance Athletics High Performance Centre in Navi Mumbai. She is a TOPS Development athlete and serves as a Chief Petty Officer in the Indian Navy.
Her first big continental result was silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games with 6.63m. She added silver at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi and bronze at the 2026 Asian Indoor Championships in Tianjin. Speed from her sprint years still shows on the runway; the work since has been on take-off, board consistency and strength.
The jump that changed her standing came in June 2026 at the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar. She leapt 6.88m in her fifth attempt and broke Anju Bobby George’s 22-year-old national record of 6.83m, set at the 2004 Athens Olympics. That mark made her India’s record-holder and a clear medal favourite in Nagoya.
Ancy Sojan is now the second Indian woman after Anju Bobby George to win two medals in the women’s long jump. Anju remains the only Indian woman to have won gold in the event, in 2002. Sunday’s silver also added to India’s athletics haul in Aichi-Nagoya while the team still waited for a first track-and-field gold at these Games. The next target she has already named is seven metres, a mark no Indian woman has cleared.
