IAAF World Junior Championship: Navjeet Kaur Dhillon wins bronze

Navjeet Kaur Dhillon

New Delhi, July 26 (IANS) In a major boost for Indian athletics, rising star Navjeet Kaur Dhillon clinched the bronze medal in the women's discus throw at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championship at Eugene, Oregon. Rising to the occasion, the 19-year-old produced a stunning performance on Friday night, throwing the discus an amazing 56.36 metres in Hayward Field after opening her series with a personal best of 54.08 metres, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) said in a press release here.

Dhillon is only the second Indian athlete after Commonwealth Games medallist Seema Antil (Punia) to win a medal in the IAAF World Junior Championships.

Antil's bronze had also come in discus at the 2002 edition in Kingston, Jamaica.

The big stage didn't unnerve Dhillon, who improved her personal best by almost two-and-a-half metres at the Championship. Dhillon's previous best was 53.97m which was achieved at the Junior Federation Cup at Chennai in May.

An elated Navjeet Kaur Dhillon said, "This is a dream come true. I'm thankful to my coaches and the AFI President Adille J. Sumariwalla for supporting me throughout. I hope to achieve greater heights for the country in the future."

The gold medal went to Brazil's Izabela da Silva, who also set a world junior mark of 58.03m to become the first woman athlete from her country to win a world championship title.

American Valarie Allman (56.75m) grabbed the silver while China's 2011 IAAF World Youth Championship silver medallist Yan Liang came close to India's bronze medallist with a throw of 56.27 in the final round.