Lokesh Sathyanathan’s leap of 8.21m in Fayetteville last month broke his own national record to become the fourth Indian to win an NCAA Division I title. The feat, which is now third on India’s all-time list, follows years of injury and personal loss, his journey guided by his mother’s final words and his father’s constant presence. There is a dialogue from the popular Kannada film ‘KGF: Chapter 2’ which Lokesh Sathyanathan remembers vividly. It’s the moment where the main character basically says to his mother, “This is what you dreamed of. This is what I will conquer.”“I always relate to that scene,” Lokesh tells Timesofindia.com from Texas. “The way he carries the love and feeling for what his mother did for him. The one word he wanted to hear from her—it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.”In a tight NCAA night in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Lokesh Sathyanathan jumped 8.21m. The jump bettered his own indoor national record of 8.01m and more importantly, he became only the fourth Indian ever to win an NCAA Division I title. The distance also moved him to third place in the Indian long jump list behind established names Jeswin Aldrin and Murali Sreeshankar. But behind that win were years of hurt, loss, and conviction shaped by his mother’s words and his father’s strength.
Road to Fayetteville
A medical student at Tarleton State University, Lokesh moved to the US in 2022 in pursuit of a dream that has already overcome its fair share of roadblocks.Years ago on his way to the US and college dorms, he met with a serious accident in Bengaluru that left him with serious facial injuries. Then came the crazy injury in the Louisville gym: a teammate dropped a weight on his left leg and broke his big toe. He had to undergo two operations, the second of which required him to travel back to India.“It wasn’t a great year at Louisville,” Lokesh recalls. “Due to that unfortunate incident, I had to undergo two surgeries. That’s when the Reliance Foundation stepped in and supported me during my rehabilitation and return to the US.”When he returned, he transferred to Tarleton State University to train under Bobby Carter, the head coach specializing in jumps. “He is the most humble and kindest person I have ever met,” says Lokesh. “He really cares. I feel like he’s one of my closest friends.”Carter’s coaching, the high-performance environment fostered by the Reliance system, and his family’s strong faith brought together the next chapter of his journey.
A promise he keeps to his mother
But even before the surgeries and setbacks, there was a deeper scar. His mother’s passing left him not only without a parent, but also without an anchor with whom he always spoke in his dreams. “I always told my mom, when I’m here, I’ll take you there,” he says. “I’ll show you life, American life, everything. I’ll take you around.”When he jumped 8.21m in Fayetteville, Lokesh looked up. “I knew she would have happy tears,” he says. “I was looking up at the sky, but it wasn’t just the sky. It was thanking God and my mother. I know they are in the same place and guiding me.”Lokesh remembers his mother’s last words as firm expectations. “She never asked me for anything big,” says Lokesh. “All she wanted was for me to be great there. When I think of her face, her smile and the last thing she said, I’m like, ‘Let’s go.’ If my mom and my dad wanted it, then that’s what I’m after.”But for Lokesh, as much as grief is part of his story, he has turned it into a yardstick by which he measures his own discipline.
His father’s support
Lokeš’s father once wanted to be a footballer, but he had no support, no structure, no system. Later he became a taxi driver for 10-15 years, driving late into the night, returning home and taking his son to training the next morning.Even now, at the age of 51, he plays regular 90-minute matches. The physical toll that would break most men is routine for him. “The man had nothing,” Lokesh says in awe. “He didn’t get what he wanted. But the love and passion he has for the sport, he still goes out there and plays.”Six months before the NCAA title, his father lost his own mother, Paranjyothi. Weeks later, he kept telling Lokesh, “Don’t worry about anything. I’m here. Just believe and keep going.”“It sounds simple,” says Lokesh. “But when you’ve lost your wife and then your own mother, and you’re still telling your son to keep going, it’s not easy. That’s strength. If he can do it, I have no excuse.”
The mental game after loss and injury
Lokesh also had to fight his own battles. “I have mental health issues, anxiety,” he admits openly. “After the accident in Bengaluru, after the surgeries, I wondered if I was still good enough to be on the NCAA circuit.His mother’s words came repeatedly as a reminder at this stage. “She always made me dream big,” he says. “Even when I was down, she said, ‘You have talent. You just have to believe.’This belief, once internalized, became his own. He now works regularly with a sports psychologist in the US and treats his mental condition with the same seriousness as physical training. “We athletes are 100% physically prepared,” he says. “But the results come from the mental game. That’s what I’m improving on.”He compares his own journey to Neeraj Chopra. “Nobody gets to this level without struggles,” he says. “It’s normal. It just depends on how you get through these phases.”
Discipline after the celebration
On paper, Lokesh’s jump of 8.21m is a record. In the Indian context it was a statement; he didn’t extend the celebration the night he won. “I woke up the next day and it was like, okay, I did it,” Lokesh says when asked about his feelings after the win. “I know I won the title. But now it’s another one. The next day I started training and flushing and everything. The feeling was great. It was amazing. I was thankful and grateful to God. But I never let that stop the process.”As for his father, who was watching from India at 5:30 a.m., his eyes filled with tears. “He gave me a quick kiss,” says Lokesh. “My aunt was crying in the background. I didn’t stop them. I knew they were happy tears.”When asked what jumping means to him outside of sport, he was direct. “Jumping is my identity. I was born Lokesh Sathyanathan. Today I am known as Lokesh Sathyanathan, an international long jumper. That is my purpose. I work for God’s purpose and for his will.”There is no fuss in the way he says it; rather, he is a man who has learned through loss and injury. 8.21m may be on the scoreboard, but for Lokesh Sathyanathan, it says something else: “This is what my mother wanted.”
