Sindhushree G sets Pole Vault National Record; Animesh Kujur seals Asian Games spot

National records continued to tumble at the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar on Thursday as Sindhushree G rewrote the women's pole vault record, while Animesh Kujur secured his place for the 2026 Asian Games with a dominant performance in the men's 200m.

Sindhushree stole the show by clearing 4.25m on her first attempt to set a new national record, surpassing Baranica Elangovan's previous mark of 4.23m. The effort also comfortably exceeded the Athletics Federation of India's Asian Games qualification standard of 4.10m.

Baranica settled for silver after clearing 4.20m, while Nitika Akare claimed bronze with a clearance of 4.10m, ensuring all three medallists achieved the qualification mark.

In the men's 200m, national record holder Animesh Kujur clinched gold in 20.74s after already breaching the Asian Games qualification standard of 20.88s with a 20.87s run in the heats. Dondapati Mrutyum Jayaram (20.97s) and Jishnu Prasad P.K. (21.18s) completed the podium.

Multiple athletes achieve Asian Games standards

The women's 200m saw all three medallists qualify for the Asian Games. Harita Bhadra won gold in 23.14s ahead of Unnathi Aiyappa Bollanda (23.40s) and Prakruthi Roopa Rao B (23.58s), with each finishing inside the qualifying mark of 23.70s.

The women's 800m also produced a clean sweep of qualifying performances. Gowthami Jayaraman claimed gold in 2:04.17s, followed by Pooja (2:04.37s) and Lili Das (2:04.59s).

Mohammed Afsal P was the only athlete to achieve the men's 800m qualifying standard in the final, clocking 1:48.57 to take gold. Krishan Kumar (1:48.82) and Prathamesh Deore (1:48.89) narrowly missed the mark.

In the women's shot put, Manpreet Kaur (17.75m), Krishna Jayasankar (16.96m) and Srishti Vig (16.96m) all cleared the qualification standard to complete the podium.

Elsewhere, Tejas Shirse booked his place for Aichi-Nagoya by clocking 13.43s in the heats of the men's 110m hurdles, while the final Indian squad for the Asian Games will be selected at the discretion of the Athletics Federation of India.