Three national junior records were set on the second day of the 24th National Junior (U20) Athletics Federation Competition at Tumkur’s Mahatma Gandhi Stadium in Karnataka. Nitin Gupta from the Army established a new men’s U20 5,000m race walk record. Shahnavaz Khan from Uttar Pradesh also made his mark in the long jump category.
Kerala’s sprinter Mohammed Ashfaq stole the spotlight by breaking national junior and meet records in the men’s 400m event. Gupta became the first Indian race walker to finish the junior men’s 5,000m race walk in under 19 minutes, clocking 18:54.37. Ranjana Yadav from Madhya Pradesh also set a new national record in the women’s 5,000m race walk.
In the men’s 400m track race, six out of eight finalists surpassed the Asian junior qualification mark of 47.53 seconds. Mohammed Ashfaq emerged victorious by setting a new national junior record with a time of 46.05 seconds. Neeru Pathak from NCOE Trivandrum clinched the gold in the women’s 400m with a time of 54.31 seconds.
Kavinraja S from Tamil Nadu improved his national pole vault record to 5.12m. Shahnavaz Khan achieved a massive jump of 8.23m, surpassing his own meet record and the national junior record. The competition witnessed remarkable performances across various events, showcasing the exceptional talent of young athletes.
