Records tumble on opening day of National U20 Athletics Championships

At the Madan Mohan Malaviya Sports Complex in Uttar Pradesh, the 23rd National Junior (U20) Federation Athletics Championships kicked off in style on Sunday, with long-distance runners and sprinters delivering standout performances marked by speed, stamina, and record-breaking feats.

In an extraordinary feat, eight male athletes surpassed the previous meet record in the men’s 3000m event during the morning session. The old record of 8:26.72, set by Ajay in 2021 at Sangrur, Punjab, was left behind as Vinod Singh of Madhya Pradesh surged ahead to clinch gold with a blazing time of 8:14.22. He was closely followed by Vivek Chand of Gujarat (8:14.81) and Rahul Kumar of Chhattisgarh (8:15.25).

In another record-setting performance, Kavinraja S of Tamil Nadu cleared 5.11m in the men’s pole vault, narrowly improving on the previous mark of 5.10m set by Kuldeep Kumar in 2024, to secure the gold medal.

In the men’s 100m sprint, Himanshu of Haryana clocked 10.49 seconds to bag gold, narrowly missing the 2018 meet record of 10.47 seconds by Gurindervir Singh. Abhay Singh of Madhya Pradesh (10.50s) and Varun Oori of Tamil Nadu (10.54s) claimed silver and bronze, respectively.

Among women, Nipam of Uttar Pradesh dominated the 100m dash with a time of 11.86 seconds, with Archita Banerjee of West Bengal (11.90s) and Sanjana of Delhi (12.01s) trailing close behind.

In the women’s 3000m final, Sanjana Singh from Haryana took top honours in 9:51.77, narrowly beating Shilpa Dihora of Gujarat (9:53.19) and Anshu of Uttar Pradesh (9:53.44).

In field events, Haryana’s Anisha impressed in the women’s discus throw, hurling the disc to a distance of 49.62m to win gold, followed by teammate Riddhi (47.68m) and Supriya Attri from NCOE Patiala (44.74m).

This exhilarating start to the three-day championship promises more thrilling performances as the nation’s top junior athletes aim to make their mark on the national stage.