Ancy Sojan had just missed Asian Games gold by two centimetres when attention on social media shifted from her jump to her appearance.

The 25-year-old long jumper from Nattika, Thrissur, won silver in the women’s long jump in Nagoya after China’s Huang Yingying produced a 6.55m jump with her final attempt, overtaking Ancy’s 6.53m. Ancy had led for much of the competition and remained in contention for gold until the final attempt.

Then came the comments.

Beyond the two centimetres

Some social media users questioned her hairstyle, jewellery and makeup.

Her braided hair, decorated with beads and ribbons, eye makeup and jewellery became the subject of online criticism. Ancy says some comments even attributed the two-centimetre gap between her jump and the gold-winning effort to her appearance.

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Speaking to The FederalAncy said she found the comments disrespectful, particularly after the work that had gone into reaching that stage of her career.

“Even after doing all that, after winning a medal, being disrespected like that… that was something I found difficult.

A lot of people had expected us to win gold. Somehow, in the final moment, it slipped away from us. From a sportsmanship perspective, my goal was to accept it and move forward. To look at the next competition and the next opportunity,” she said.

She had gone to the Asian Games expecting to challenge for gold. Her performances during the season had given her reason to believe she could do so. But conditions in Nagoya were different from what she had expected.

“I went there expecting to win gold because my performance had been so consistent.

But when I got there, the weather conditions were completely different. Still, I fought. I was in contention for gold until the very last moment. I fought until the end, but I couldn’t get it,” she said.

The story behind her style

Her appearance, however, was not something she considered incompatible with competition. She has previously spoken about makeup, nail art and accessories being part of her preparation before competitions. Reports after the Asian Games also noted that her distinctive appearance had triggered a huge buzz online.

For Ancy, there is a personal history behind it.

“When I was going for district competitions, when I was still in school, children would have things like these bangles. Some would wear them while running. I remember hearing the sound of the bangles on their hand, and the next day I also came wearing bangles. They would make that sound when I ran,” she told The Federal.

“I’ve always liked using ornaments and things like that. I saw athletes outside doing it too. So it gave me a lot of confidence. It also felt like I was being true to myself. I don’t know how to explain it, but when I come to a competition, the way I dress and the things I wear may be different.”

Ancy is currently a Chief Petty Officer in the Indian Navy while pursuing athletics at the highest level. She is also India’s current national record holder in women’s long jump. In June this year, she jumped 6.88m at the Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar, breaking Anju Bobby George’s 6.83m national record, which had stood for 22 years.

The road back from injury

Her Asian Games silver is the latest addition to an international medal record that includes another Asian Games silver and medals at the Asian Championships and Asian Indoor Championships.

But her journey to becoming an international athlete has not been straightforward. There was a period when an injury made her consider giving up athletics altogether.

“There was a time when I thought of quitting sports because of an injury. I even thought I wouldn’t be able to participate in my first state-level competition. But then I came back and started again,” she said.

She eventually began concentrating on long jump and trained until 2021 before moving to the national camp. That transition came after a difficult period in which injuries and stagnant performances had begun affecting her mentally.

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“During this journey, there was even a point when I thought of quitting sports. Because after training continuously back home in the beach sand of Nattika, I started getting injuries. My performance wasn’t improving. Mentally, I started feeling extremely down. There was a time when nobody, even my parents, would listen to me,” Ancy said.

A turning point in Bengaluru

She said she felt that her concerns were not being understood by her earlier coach.

“The coach I had before I came to the national camp would always say that I wasn’t performing because of my own problems. Nobody was really concerned about my strengths or what I was capable of. I became so tired of it that I even started thinking of quitting sports and getting a job in the armed forces. The girl who always said, ‘Olympics, Olympics’ and dreamed of going to the Olympics was now thinking of leaving it all behind,” she said.

She was eventually taken to a psychologist.

The move to the national camp brought another change. Ancy says the training environment and, more importantly, her own mindset began to change after she moved to the Bengaluru camp.

“After I went to the national camp, I really wanted to train mentally and physically, but somehow I just couldn’t. Then I came to the academy. After I moved out and came to the camp in Bengaluru, my mindset improved tremendously. I don’t know how to explain it, but from then on, things almost started falling into place,” she said.

The move that mattered

She also spoke to her parents about what she had experienced. “They asked me, ‘Why didn’t you tell us earlier?’ I told them, ‘None of you gave me an opportunity to be heard. You were all blaming me.’”

Ancy said her parents did not have the knowledge to understand what she was going through at the time and had largely accepted what the coach told them.

The decision to leave that environment and move to the national camp, she says, eventually proved important for her career.

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“I also had recovery issues. But once I came to the national camp, the workouts and the whole training system changed significantly. That helped me tremendously in my career. I think my decision to leave that place and come to the national camp was probably the right one. The evidence that I made the right decision is what you are seeing now,” she said.

From two centimetres to seven

That evidence includes the national record, international medals and now another Asian Games silver.

The trolling after Nagoya, therefore, has come at a curious point in Ancy’s career. She had gone to the Asian Games with a clear target, stayed in the fight for gold until the final attempt and lost the title by two centimetres.

Her next target is already set. “Actually, I have planned to achieve seven metres. I want to cross seven metres and become the first Indian woman to do it. That’s my next target. I think it is possible next year,” she said.

The beads, she made clear, are not going anywhere.