National Cross Country C'ships: Olympian Ankita wins the women's title

Paris Olympian Ankita, an Indian long-distance runner, started her year on a high note by defending her national women's 10 km cross-country title in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday. 

Ankita, who represented India in Paris at the 5000m event, had a slower start but she kept herself in the leading pack and clinched the gold medal with a final dash in the last 100 meters.

Ankita, representing railways, clocked a timing of 34:45.16s to win the title, leaving behind Jyoti (34:46.85s) of Haryana and Shraddha (34:49.07s) of Railways, who won the silver and bronze medals respectively.

With this double podium finish, Railways also won the women's team title with 17 points. Uttar Pradesh (40) and the Police Sports Control Board (42) won silver and bronze medals respectively.

Hukam narrowly edges out the leading pack

In the men's 10Km cross-country event, Hukam of Services won the gold medal by clocking 29:43.46s, in a very close race, having more than ten athletes in the leading pack which crossed the finish line together.

Services had a double-podium as Ishwar Verma, also from the Services team, won the silver medal with the timing of 29:43.89s. Meanwhile, Bhavishya of Railways clinched the bronze medal with 29:43.98.

Services showed their domination in the men's team event as well, winning the gold medal with an impressive cumulative score of 12. Railways (35) and Rajasthan (57) won the silver and bronze medals respectively.