Amritpal Singh is an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n track and field athlete from Punjab

Punjab (India)

Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...

 who specializes in long jump

Long jump

The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...

. He holds the current national record of 8.08 metres in long jump. On 16 March 2004, Amritpal broke one of the oldest national records in Indian athletics – T. C. Yohannan

T. C. Yohannan

Thadathuvila Chandapillai Yohannan , better known as T. C. Yohannan, is a former Indian long jumper who held the national record in long jump for nearly 3 decades and represented India in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada. He hails from the state of Kerala...

's 3-decade-old record in the long jump – by leaping to a distance of 8.08 metres in the 10th Federation Cup Athletics Championships at the Nehru Stadium in New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

.

Born on 6 October 1983 in Sangrur district

Sangrur district

Sangrur district is in the state of Punjab in North-West Republic of India. Earlier Barnala was part of Sangrur district, but now Barnala is a separate district.-Sangrur consists of following cities:DHURIMALERKOTLA...

 of Punjab in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Amritpal is only the third Indian to go beyond the magical eight-metre mark in the long jump; the others being T. C. Yohannan of Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

 and Sanjay Kumar Rai

Sanjay Kumar Rai

Sanjay Kumar Rai is an Indian track and field athlete from Uttar Pradesh, India who specializes in the long jump event. He competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games but did not record a valid jump. His personal best jump in IAAF competition is 8.03m at the 2000 Asian Athletics Championships in...

 (8.02m and 8.03m in 2000) of Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

. He works for Punjab Police as an Inspector.

Though Amritpal had passed the qualifying norm of 8.05 m for the 2004 Athens Olympics

2004 Summer Olympics

The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

, he was left out because of unsatisfactory form and fitness.

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