India’s Lokesh Sathyanathan clinched gold medal in men’s long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Friday.

Lokesh, a student at Tarleton State University, finished first with a new indoor national record of 8.21m, which came in the fourth round in the final. The effort also took him to third on the all-time outdoor list of Indian long jumpers, only behind Jeswin Aldrin (8.42m) and Murali Sreeshankar (8.41m).

The 26-year-old Lokesh, who earlier had a personal best of 8.02m, also produced an effort of 8.17m in the last round. He finished ahead of The University of Southern Mississippi’s De’Aundre Ward (8.20m) and Kansas State University’s Tafadzwa Chikomba (8.15m).

Lokesh is only the fourth Indian after Mohinder Singh Gill (triple jump), Vikas Gowda (discus throw) and Tejaswin Shankar (high jump) to win an NCAA Division 1 Athletics Championships.

READ | Inspired by mother’s last words to join collegiate athletics, Lokesh leaps into Indian top lists

Lokesh was born and raised in Bengaluru in a sports-mad family—father John played football for the Bangalore Police while sister Monica was a national-level 400-metre runner.

A multiple-time junior national champion, Lokesh was also a member of the Indian team that competed at the 2018 Junior World Championships. For all his potential, Lokesh’s performances once seemed to have been stuck in limbo in India, even as he was plagued by self-doubt following a serious vehicular accident.

In 2021, as his mother, Fency Mary, battled what would be the final stages of a COVID-19 infection, she advised him to take the chance of making a career in collegiate competition in the USA. “My mom’s last words were, ‘go follow your dreams. Go to the place where you can achieve your dreams’. That inspired me and pushed me emotionally,” he told Sportstar.

Published on Mar 14, 2026