There is a dialogue from the popular Kannada film ‘K.G.F: Chapter 2’ that Lokesh Sathyanathan remembers vividly. It is the moment when the protagonist, in essence, tells his mother, “This is what you dreamed. This is what I am going to conquer.”“I always relate to that scene,” Lokesh tells Timesofindia.com from Texas. “The way he carries the love and the emotion for what his mother did for him. That one word he wanted to hear from her – when I think about it, it gives me goosebumps.”On a tight NCAA night in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Lokesh Sathyanathan jumped 8.21m. That leap 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. Also, the distance pushed him to third on the all‑time Indian long jump list behind established names Jeswin Aldrin and Murali Sreeshankar. However, behind that win stood years of injury, loss, and a belief shaped by his mother’s words and his father’s strength.
The Road to Fayetteville
Lokesh, a Health Science undergraduate at Tarleton State University, moved to the USA in 2022 in pursuit of a dream that had already weathered its fair share of roadblocks.Before the US‑bound flights and college tracks, there was a serious accident in Bengaluru that left him with major facial injuries. Then came a freak injury in a gym in Louisville: a teammate dropped weights on his left leg, fracturing the big toe on his take‑off foot. He had to undergo two surgeries, the second one requiring him to travel back to India.“It was not a great year in Louisville,” remembers Lokesh. “I had to go through two surgeries because of that unfortunate incident. That’s when Reliance Foundation stepped in, supporting me through the rehabilitation and my return to the US.”When he came back, he transferred to Tarleton State University to train under Bobby Carter, the head coach who specialises in jumps. “He is the most humble and kind person I’ve met,” Lokesh says. “He genuinely cares. I feel he’s one of my closest friends.”Carter’s coaching, the Reliance‑supported high‑performance environment, and the steady belief of his family stitched together the next chapter of his journey.
The Promise He Keeps to His Mother
But, even before the surgeries and the setbacks, there had been a deeper scar. His mother’s passing had left him not just without a parent, but without the anchor he had always spoken dreams to. “I always used to say to my mom, once I’m here, I’ll take you out there,” he says. “I’ll show you the life, the American life, everything. I’ll take you around.”When he jumped 8.21m in Fayetteville, Lokesh looked up. “I knew she would have had happy tears,” he says. “I was looking up to the sky, but it wasn’t just the sky. It was thanking God and my mom. I know they are in the same place, guiding me.”Lokesh remembers his mother’s last words as a firm expectation. “She never asked me for anything big,” says Lokesh. “All she wanted was for me to be great out there. When I remember her face, her smile, and the last thing she said, it just makes me feel, ‘Let’s go.’ If that’s what my mom wanted, and that’s what my dad wants, then that’s what I’m going for.”But for Lokesh, as much as the grief is part of his story, he has turned it into a yardstick by which he measures his own discipline.
His Father’s Support
Lokesh’s father once wanted to be a footballer, but had no support, no structure, no system. He later became a taxi driver for 10 – 15 years, driving late into the night, coming home, and then taking his son to training the next morning.Even now, at 51, he plays regular 90‑minute matches. The physical toll that would break most men is, for him, routine. “That man had nothing,” Lokesh says in awe. “He didn’t get what he wanted. But the love and passion he has for sport, he still goes out there and plays.”Six months before the NCAA title, his father lost his own mother, Paranjyothi. Weeks later, he was still telling Lokesh, “Don’t worry about anything. I’m here. Just believe and keep going.”“It sounds simple,” Lokesh says. “But when you have lost your wife, and then your own mother, and you’re still telling your son to keep going, that’s not simple. That’s a strength. If he can do that, I have no excuse.”
The Mental Game After Loss and Injury
Lokesh also has had to fight his own battles. “I have mental health issues, anxieties,” he admits plainly. “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, in that phase, came repeatedly as a reminder. “She always pushed me to dream big,” he says. “Even when I was down, she would say, ‘You have the talent. You just have to believe.’”That belief, once internalised, became his own. He now works regularly with a sports psychologist in the US, treating his mental conditioning with the same seriousness as his physical training. “We athletes are 100% prepared physically,” he says. “But the results come from the mental game. That’s what I’m improving.”He compares his own path to Neeraj Chopra. “No one reaches that level without struggles,” he says. “It’s normal. It depends on how you carry yourself through those phases.”
Discipline After the Celebration
On paper, Lokesh’s 8.21m jump is a record. In the Indian context, it was a statement; the night he won, he did not extend the celebration. “The next day, I woke up, and it was like, okay, I did it,” says Lokesh when asked about the feeling after the win. “I know I won the title. But now it’s next. The next day, I started my training and flush and everything. The feeling was great. It was amazing. I was grateful and thankful to God. But I never let it stop the process.”As for his father, watching from India at 5.30 AM, he had tear‑filled eyes. “He gave me a flying kiss,” Lokesh says. “My aunt was crying in the background. I didn’t stop them. I knew those were happy tears.”When asked what jumping means to him beyond 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 am working for God’s purpose and for his will.”There is no bluster in the way he says it; it is more of a man who has learned, through loss and injury. On the scoreboard, it might read 8.21m, but for Lokesh Sathyanathan, it reads something else: “This is what my mother wanted.”