The final day of Asian Athletics Championship 2017 ended up as one of the best in Indian sporting history. Not only did the athletes win 10 medals in one day but they also made sure India broke its previous records of highest medal tally in the tournament after 28 years. The 10 medals include 6 golds, 1 silver and 3 bronze. This also made sure that India stayed on the top of the medal tally.
Indian women made sure that they again bagged the first medal and gold of the day as 21-year old Archana Adhav the Sri Lankan duo of Konda and Thushari to win the 800m final. India’s Lili Das finished fifth and just two seconds behind Adhav while the veteran Tintu Luka did not finish the race.
However, after complaints from the Sri Lankan team, Adhav has been stripped off her medal and investigations are going on.
The Indian women again showed their dominance as they bagged the first, third and fourth spot in the Women Heptathlon Final. Swapna Barman and Purnima Hembram stood first alternatively in most of the qualifying rounds and did not fail to show their mettle in the final as they won the gold and bronze respectively. Meg Hemphill of Japan finished second while Liksy Joseph of Kerala finished fourth.
The men were not far behind in the 800m category as Jinson Johnson made India proud with a bronze medal in the race. He didn’t disappoint his fans after winning the silver in Asian Championship 2015 and won a medal at home as well. He fell just two tenths of a second short of Kuwaiti runner Alzofairi who clocked 1:49.47.
The 10000m race brought pleasant smiles to the Indian fans as India bagged the top two spots. G Lakshmanan of Tamil Nadu was not just content with a gold in the 5000m as he emulated a number of top athletes by doing the 5000m and 10,000m double. Long distance runner from Kerala, Gopi Thonakal, who finished 25th in the 2016 Olympic Games in marathon, faired a lot better as he earned the silver medal. He fell just 3 seconds short of Lakshmanan.
The Indian athletics contingent were not just content with individual dominance as they brought gold in both men’s and women’s 4*400m relay. The team of Kunju Mohammed, Amoj Jacob, Arokia Rajiv and Mohammad Anas clocked 3:02.92 and finished 2 and 4 seconds ahead of Sri Lanka and Thailand respectively. The women stood at par with men as they beat Vietnam and Japan to win the gold.
The last medal of the day was achieved by the star of Javelin throw Neeraj Chopra who lived up to the expectations and the felicitations that he earned the previous day for being the world record holder in the junior category. He fell 1.25m short of his world record mark but the 85.23m throw was enough to ensure that it went farthest in this meet and made him win the gold. Qatar’s Ahmed Ahmed BA won the silver while India’s Davinder Singh Kang claimed the bronze medal with a throw of 83.29m.
India ended the competition on the top with a total haul of 29 medals, which includes 12 golds, while China only bagged 20 medals. Here’s the final medal tally after the four days on competition:
