Arpinder Singh on Sunday became the first Indian to win a medal in IAAF Continental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
The triple jumper created history by clinching a bronze medal as he covered 16.59m during the event to finish at third place. He cleared 16.33 in his next three attempts to secure bronze.
Arpinder, 25, was representing the Asia-Pacific team in the meet, held once every four years.
The gold was bagged by reigning Olympic and World Champion Christian Taylor of the United States with a jump of 17.59m, which is one metre more than the best effort of Arpinder.
The IAAF Continental Cup has competition in 37 events in men and women sections, with two top athletes from the four regions of Europe, Americas, Africa and Asia-Pacific taking part in each of them.
No Indian had ever won a medal in the Continental Cup which was previously known as the IAAF World Cup before 2010.
In the recently concluded Asian Games in Indonesia, Arpinder ended India's 48-year wait for a men's triple jump gold with an effort of 16.77 metres in his third attempt. In a close contest, he pipped Uzbekistan's Ruslan Kurbanov, who took the silver medal with a personal best of 16.62 metres.
India’s previous gold in the triple jump at the Asian Games was way back in 1970 when Mohinder Singh Gill won with an effort of 16.11m.
In June 2014, Arpinder jumped 17.17 metres at the 2014 National Inter-State Championships in Lucknow. In the process, he also beat the national record which was held at the time by Renjith Maheshwary. He also secured qualification for the 2014 Commonwealth Games where he won the bronze medal. Arpinder’s national record was later broken by Renjith in 2016.
With IANS Inputs