Sarvesh Kushare set a new national record in men’s high jump after clearing 2.31m at the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Friday. The athlete from Maharashtra also became the first Indian high jumper to officially clear the 2.30m mark.The 31-year-old went past the previous national record of 2.29m set by Tejaswin Shankar on April 27, 2018 in Lubbock. His jump also broke the meet record of 2.25m, which had been set by B Chethan at the 2018 National Inter-State Championships in Guwahati.Kushare had already cleared the Asian Games qualification mark of 2.19m. He cleared 2.31m in his third attempt to set the new national record. He then made two attempts at 2.35m, but was unable to clear the height.Tamil Nadu’s Aadarsh ​​Ram finished second after clearing 2.25m. His effort also bettered the previous meet record and took him past the qualification mark for the Asian Games. Karnataka’s Jesse Sandesh claimed third place with a jump of 2.19m, matching the qualifying mark.The performance adds another achievement to Kushare’s career. He represented India at the Paris Olympics and has been one of the country’s regular performers in the high jump at both domestic and international competitions.His latest effort of 2.31m gives India a new national benchmark in the event ahead of a busy season that includes the Asian Games.Kushare also made history at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. He became the first Indian male high jumper to qualify for the World Championships final. He finished sixth with a personal best of 2.28m, which remains the best finish by an Indian high jumper in the history of the World Championships.