Ancy Sojan, with beads, ribbon and Asiad silver, becomes Kerala's new sports icon

While Ancy Sojan walked onto the track for her first attempt at the Women’s Long Jump event in the Asian Games 2026, almost all the Indian supporters inside and outside the stadium across the sub-continent, were sure a medal was coming her way. A promise of reassurance she provided the crowd with her body language.

As the 25-year-old Ancy's face, with her hair adorned with colourful beads and ribbons, flashed across the big screen, the Paloma Mizuho Athletic Stadium erupted in rhythmic applause. She has always been one to bring her own style into the sport, donning colourful attire, vibrantly painted fingernails and eyeshadow, bracelets around her wrists, a nose pin to adorn her glowing face, long metal chains hung around her neck and neon coloured shoes, but most impactful of all - her bright smile that lights up the entire arena.

“Doing my makeup on the morning of a competition is like getting ready for me. I feel very cool and relaxed when I do it. I like playing energetic songs that get me hyped up. I'm having fun. I watch long jump videos. I get my hair braided, then I apply eyeliner and lipstick. Finally, I glue on my nails. I want to look as beautiful as possible. I want to be someone who can be seen from anywhere,” she recently told SportStar.

Hailing from Thrissur, Ancy Sojan is the daughter of Sojan Edapalli and Jancy from Nattika. Rising through the ranks of school sports meets, Ancy is training under her personal coach Anoop Joseph at Reliance Foundation in Mumbai. Despite missing out on a gold at the event, she has been one of the most consistent performers throughout the season, recently rewriting the national long jump record by a leap of 6.88m, previously held by Anju Bobby George.

Ancy loves to wind up the crowd, gesturing at them to feel her aggression and make them feel they’re part of it. The fight becomes theirs to lose, and she makes sure they do not taste failure. A figure brimming with confidence, an energy train, Ancy translated all of it on the field to lead the charts with her very first attempt, jumping 6.49m to take the lead.

She maintained her first place until the fifth jump. In her fifth attempt, Huang Yingying equalled Ancy's leading mark (6.49m). Ancy, however, responded in her own fifth attempt, extending her lead (6.53m) and reclaiming the top spot. Only one jump remained for each competitor.

India, poised to celebrate its first athletics gold through the women's long jump, was dealt an unexpected shock when China's Yingying snatched the gold with her final attempt. Ancy was relegated to silver by a mere 2 centimetres.

Only Ancy remained to make her final attempt. Fans held onto hope that she would deliver a dramatic comeback. Ancy made her final attempt with everything she had, but could only manage 6.49 meters. Gold went to Yingying, silver to Ancy, and a poignant sadness settled. India, which had harboured hopes of gold from Ancy, was left in despair.

Ancy was the least bothered about the drama unfolded right in front of everyone in the stadium. “The margin of the defeat surely breaks my heart. I reckoned the Chinese athlete was behind me, yet when measured, she came first. My final jump couldn’t match the expectations.”

“I am glad. This is only my second Asian Games campaign, and my second medal. I gave my best out there. The weather has not helped any of the athletes. It was not my day, but I’ll learn a lot from it and come back stronger,” Ancy added with confidence.

Ancy displayed unreal composure after the defeat. She very well knew that this wasn’t only a setback, but a silver to cherish as well. “We're not stopping here. This season, I competed in over ten events, and my performance was consistent. I'm incredibly thankful to have achieved this much, especially given the circumstances, and equally grateful to everyone who supported me. This isn't the end; we're just getting started. This is just the beginning, and I've learned so many lessons. The next season will be even better than this one,” her words sounded elite.

“Failures are inevitable, but we learn so much from them. Our time will come. Perhaps something even greater is yet to come. So, just keep going, that's all. It's only through losing that we truly learn how to win,” said Ancy, with a whole country backing her in a journey to inevitable greatness.