Sarvesh Kushare claimed a historic sixth-place finish in the men’s high jump final at the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Competing at the National Stadium, the 30-year-old Indian athlete cleared 2.28m to produce the country’s best result in high jump at the global showpiece.
It was also a new personal best for Kushare, rewriting the mark of 2.27m set in Gujarat in 2022. Tejaswin Shankar holds the high jump national record with 2.29m.
Kushare shared sixth place with NACAC champion Tyus Wilson of the USA, with both registering an identical series of attempts.
World Championships 2023 silver medallist JuVaughn Harrison also cleared 2.28m but finished fifth owing to fewer failures.
Olympic champion Hamish Kerr of New Zealand soared to gold with a 2.36m clearance, edging out the Republic of Korea’s indoor world champion Woo Sang-hyeok (2.34m). Czechia’s Jan Stefela took bronze with 2.31m.
Kushare had already made history earlier in Tokyo by becoming the first Indian high jumper to qualify for a World Championships final. He cleared 2.25m in the qualifying round, placing seventh in Group B to advance to the medal round.
At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Sarvesh Kushare finished 13th in Group B and 25th overall in the qualification rounds with a clearance of 2.15m. At the Asian Games 2023, Sarvesh missed the podium, finishing fourth with a mark of 2.26m.
Kushare won silver at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships with an effort of 2.26m.
India’s medal tally at the World Athletics Championships remains three – Anju Bobby George’s long jump bronze at Paris 2003, Neeraj Chopra’s javelin silver at Oregon 2022, and the historic gold at Budapest 2023.
Neeraj Chopra will begin his campaign at Tokyo 25 from the qualifying round on Wednesday.