New Delhi: Indian high jumper Sarvesh Kushare delivered a memorable performance by securing third place in the men’s high jump event at the Monaco Diamond League 2026 on Friday.
The Monaco meet marked the 31-year-old’s first appearance on the Diamond League circuit. With the podium finish, he became only the fourth Indian athlete to secure a top-three finish at a Diamond League meet, after Vikas Gowda, Neeraj Chopra and Murali Sreeshankar.
Kushare has been in outstanding form this season. Last month, he set a new national record of 2.31m at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, surpassing Tejaswin Shankar’s eight-year-old mark.
Competing at the Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Kushare cleared 2.12m, 2.16m, 2.20m, 2.23m, and 2.26m on his first attempts to remain in contention for the top three alongside Great Britain’s Jack Kimani and Ukraine’s Oleh Doroshchuk, according to reports.
The Asian Athletics Championships silver medallist could not clear 2.28m in three attempts, which confirmed his third-place finish.
Kushare also finished ahead of Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi and Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim, the joint Olympic champions from Tokyo 2020. Tamberi placed seventh with a clearance of 2.23m, while Barshim finished eighth after clearing 2.20m.
Ukraine’s Oleh Doroshchuk won the competition with a best jump of 2.32m, while Jack Kimani of Great Britain finished second with a clearance of 2.30m.
Kushare, who became the first Indian high jumper to reach the final of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last year, has also been named in India’s 32-member athletics squad for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
