Asian U20 Athletics: Rezoana, Bharatpreet win gold medals on Day 1

India started their 2023 Asian U20 Athletics Championships campaign by winning a total of 3 medals, including two gold, on the opening day of the competition in Yecheon, South Korean.

The ever-improving sprinting sensation Rezoana Mallick Henna bagged the first gold medal for India in the continental championships. She clocked 53.31s to take the top position on the podium in women's 400m. Her personal best over 400m stands at 53.22s.

Having won the U18 Asian Athletics Championships title earlier this year, Rezoana is now the 400m reigning Asian champion in both the U18 as well as U20 categories.

Just minutes after Mallick's heroics on the track, Bharatpreet Singh shone bright in the discus throw field by clinching India's second gold medal of the day. He attained a distance of 55.66m with his third attempt to be crowned the men's U20 Asian Champion.

Singh started off with a 51.83m and a foul and was placed fourth after the first two rounds of throws. He soon made amends with his third attempt, which saw him secure the gold medal.

Bharatpreet Singh's only other legal throw was recorded at 54.83m.

Bronze for Antima

However, it was Antima Pal who opened India's medal tally at the U20 Asian Athletics Championships when she bagged the bronze medal in women's 5000m earlier in the day.

Pal clocked 17:17.117s to cover the distance behind Yonezawa Nanaka and Matsumoto Akari, who made it a double podium for Japan in the event.

India's Bushra Khan Gauri finished fifth among the five runners in women's 5000m, clocking 18:15.982s.