Asian Games
Asian Games Athletics: Parul becomes first Indian woman to win 5000m gold
Parul Chaudhary became the first-ever Indian woman to win the gold medal in the 5000m event at the Asian Games 2023.
National record holder Parul Chaudhary made history by becoming the first-ever Indian woman to secure a gold medal in the 5000m event at the Asian Games on Tuesday.
This marks her second medal in the competition, following a silver win in the 3000m Steeplechase the previous day.
Parul accelerated in the last 100m to leave Japan's Ririka Hironaka behind and clocked 15:14.75 to claim a historic gold in the event
Hironaka was leading throughout the race while Parul stayed in the leading pack throughout the race. Both the runners broke away from the rest of the runners in their pursuit for gold.
In the last lap, Parul was second behind Hironaka but she saw an opening in the last 100m to push and finished ahead of the Japanese to take the gold.
India had won two silvers and three bronze medals in the past in women's 5000m, with Sunita Rani securing the first silver in 1998. The last medals came in 2010 as Preeja Sreedharan and Kavita Raut secured a silver and bronze respectively.
Another Indian in the mix, Ankita Dhyani finished fifth with a timing of 15:33.03 which is also her personal best.
