Nipam ends India’s 25-year wait for Women’s 100m medal at Asian U20 Championships

Nipam delivered a memorable performance on her international debut by winning the bronze medal in the women’s 100m at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships on Thursday.

The 18-year-old clocked 11.62 seconds in the final to secure India’s first medal in the women’s 100m at the event in 25 years. Despite a slow start out of the blocks, the national U20 record holder recovered strongly during the race to finish on the podium.

Qatar’s Dana Noor Salem claimed gold with a timing of 11.47 seconds, while China’s Xinxuan Chen took silver in 11.54 seconds.

Nipam, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, currently holds the Indian U20 national record in the women’s 100m with a personal best of 11.53 seconds set earlier this year at a domestic competition.

India records mixed results across opening day

India narrowly missed another medal in the men’s 3000m event, where Vikas Kumar finished fourth with a personal best time of 8:24.88.

In the women’s 400m heats, Neeru Pathak topped her heat in 54.42 seconds, while Tahura Khatun qualified for the final after finishing second in her race with a timing of 55.06 seconds.

However, Mohammed Ashfaq failed to advance to the men’s 400m final after placing fifth in his semifinal.

India also showed promise in the decathlon, with Rahul Jakhar producing a strong opening day performance. He clocked 10.70 seconds in the 100m and accumulated solid points across the long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m to remain in medal contention.

In the men’s hammer throw, Ashuvendra Pratap Singh and Aman finished seventh and eighth respectively.