K.M. Deeksha smashes national women’s 1500m record in Los Angeles

Madhya Pradesh's track and field sensation, K.M. Deeksha, shattered the Indian national women’s 1500m record at the prestigious Sound Running Track Festival held in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Competing in her first event of the season, the 25-year-old dynamo clocked a breathtaking 4:04.78 seconds, eclipsing the previous record of 4:05.39s set by Harmilan Bains in 2021 at the National Open Athletics Championships in Warangal.

Deeksha's previous personal best was a 4:06.07s set in the final of the National Inter-State Athletics Championships at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar in 2023, where she upstaged Bains to win the gold medal.

It's worth noting that Bains, with her record-breaking run last year, had surpassed a long-standing milestone set by Sunita Rani in 2002 at the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. Rani's time of 4:06.03 had stood unchallenged for 19 years until Bains reset the bar.

Meanwhile, Parul Chaudhary narrowly missed her out on her personal best in the 5000m race as she clocked 15:10.69s while finishing fifth. Avinash Sable secured the second position in the men's event as he clocked 13;20.37s.