Krishna Jayasankar: The Athlete Who Refused to Let Doubt Define Her

For Krishna Jayasankar, sport was never something she deliberately chose. In many ways, it chose her.

In the latest episode of Reliance Foundation’s Safar Champions Ka, Krishna Jayasankar retraces the journey that shaped her as an athlete, from her hesitant beginnings in athletics to breaking records on the international stage, while reflecting on the people who stood by her, the setbacks she overcame and the belief that continues to fuel her ambition.

Today, the 23-year-old shot putter and discus thrower stands among India’s emerging athletics names, but her journey began with uncertainty. As a child, Krishna questioned whether her body could even belong in sport. “I’m such a big girl. How can I run?” she recalls thinking when she was first introduced to athletics.

Her entry into the sport came almost by accident. Having tried tennis before athletics, Krishna was encouraged to give throwing events a chance because of her build. Her parents, former Indian basketball players Jayasankar and Prasanna, already understood the demands of competitive sport, but they did not force basketball on their daughter. Instead, they allowed her to find her own path.

“Basically, it was her decision,” her mother, Prasanna Jayasankar recalls in the film, explaining that Krishna had initially been encouraged towards basketball but wanted to explore something different.

That decision would change her life.

Her coach remembers warning Krishna early that sport was not simply about showing up and having fun. “A lot of pains and a lot of ups and downs will be a part of sports,” she told her. Krishna, however, was ready to commit. What began with struggling to complete a lap soon became state-level competition, followed by national success. By Class 8, she had already won a national medal.

“I never chose sports. Sports just came to me,” Krishna says.

Her journey eventually took her beyond India, first to Jamaica and then to the United States, where she entered the NCAA system. The move demanded far more than athletic ability. It meant leaving home, balancing academics and training, and enduring setbacks largely away from her family.

In 2024, she began what she describes as a comeback, later becoming the first Indian woman to qualify for the NCAA Championships in discus. In 2026, she continued rewriting the record books, breaking India’s indoor shot put record three times.

For her father, C. Jayasankar Menon, the achievement is about much more than numbers. “I am happy that her hard work is paying off,” he said, acknowledging the difficulty of being away from home while balancing studies, work and training.

That support has mattered most during the difficult stretches of Krishna’s journey. Looking back, she credits the people around her for helping her survive periods when there seemed to be more storms than rainbows.

“Thank you for believing in me even in the moments when we didn’t have rainbows, all we had was a storm,” she says.

Yet Krishna refuses to frame her story purely around adversity. Her confidence is deliberate, built through years of setbacks and comebacks.

“I’m not overconfident. I’m not condescending. But I believe in myself,” she says. “After years of setbacks, I’m still here. I’m still thriving. I’m still standing.”

With the Asian Games now forming the next chapter of her career, that belief has become her greatest weapon. She knows the journey is unfinished.

“This is not a destination,” Krishna says. “This is a journey, not a destination. So we’re going to keep rolling.”

And for an athlete who once wondered whether she was built for sport, Krishna Jayasankar now has a very different answer.

“The sky is never the limit.”