Ancy Sojan: The Leap of a Decade

“Don’t send her, she’s a girl.” That’s what people said when a young Ancy Sojan began chasing her dream of becoming an athlete. Her father, an auto driver and former sportsperson, showed up at every practice, watched every run, and stood beside her through the years it took to prove everyone wrong. Her mother, once an athlete, now lives her own unfinished dream through Ancy’s leaps. here were setbacks, hamstring injuries, missed medals, moments of doubt, but never a pause. “We will continue,” she told her father one day. And she did.

It took nearly a decade for Ancy to win her first international medal. Before she touched the synthetic track, Ancy Sojan didn’t even know tracks like that existed. The first time she saw one, she bent down, touched it, and called her mother to show her what the world of athletics looked like. Today, as an Asian Games and Asian Athletics Championship medallist, Ancy is a name that carries weight, grit and grace.

Even now, in off-season, she trains relentlessly, running, stretching, mobilising, building strength while festivals, food, family time all take a backseat to discipline.

Her dream? To be the first Indian woman to cross seven metres.

For The StrongHER Movement, Ancy Sojan reminds us that true strength isn’t given, it’s earned, one leap at a time.