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Ajeet Kumar and KM Deeksha claimed gold medals in the men's and women’s 1500 meters races, respectively, on the opening day of the inaugural National U23 Athletics Championships. The event is being held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium eight-lane warm-up track on Monday.
Gujarat's Ajeet Kumar sprinted away to victory on the final lap, clocking 3:47.31 seconds. Delhi’s Harendra Kumar won silver with a time of 3:49.30 seconds while Uttar Pradesh’s Prince Kumar took home bronze with a time of 3:51.88 seconds.
Earlier in the morning session, Prince won silver in the men’s 5000m.
In the women’s 1500m, KM Deeksha of Madhya Pradesh outclassed Delhi’s KM Chanda on the final lap to assert her supremacy in the middle-distance race. Her winning time was 4:14.02 seconds.
In the other finals of the day, Kiran Baliyan of Uttar Pradesh won the women’s shot put gold with a distance of 16.11m. Parshant Singh Kanhaiya of Haryana won gold in the men’s pole vault event at a height of 5.10m.
The men’s 5000m title went to Adesh Yadav from Maharashtra, while Komal Chandrakant Jagdale, also of Maharashtra, won gold in the women’s 5,000m race.
The women’s 100m final is expected to be an exciting duel between Delhi’s Taranjeet Kaur (11.72 seconds) and Karnataka’s AT Daneshwari (11.73). Both emerged fastest qualifiers in the preliminary round of the women’s 100m race.
Telangana’s Nithya Gandhe (11.91 seconds) and Maharashtra’s Avantika Narale (11.97 seconds) were the other leading sprinters who advanced to the medal round. In the men’s 100m semifinals, Shashikanth Angadi of Karnataka was the fastest runner with a time of 10.53 seconds.
At the long jump pit, Tamil Nadu’s Sherin Abdul Gaffoor was impressive with a leap of 6.31m in the qualifying round. Pooja Saini (Rajasthan), R Punitha (Tamil Nadu) and Sandra Babu (Kerala) also recorded jumps over the 6m mark.
National U23 Athletics Championships's results (all finals):
Men's:
1500m: 1. Ajeet Kumar (Gujarat) 3:47.31; 2. Harendra Kumar (Delhi) 3:49.30; 3. Prince Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 3:51.88.
5000m: 1. Adesh Yadav (Maharashtra) 14:12.36; 2. Prince Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 14:17.37; 3. Ajay (Haryana) 14:21.44 seconds
Pole Vault: 1. Prashant Kanhaiya (Haryana) 5.10m; 2. AK Siddharth (Kerala) 4.85; 3. Amit (Rajasthan) 4.85m.
Women's:
1500m: 1. KM Deeksha (Madhya Pradesh) 4:14.02; 2. KM Chanda (Delhi) 4:15.08; 3. Radha (Uttarakhand) 4:31.98.
5000m: 1. Komal Chandrakant Jagdale (Maharashtra) 16:03.53; 2. Sonika (Haryana) 17:00.46; 3. Badho (Haryana) 17:40.41.
Shot put: 1. Kiran Baliyan (Uttar Pradesh) 16.11m; 2. Kachnar Chaudhary (Rajasthan) 14.71m; 3. Ambika (Karnataka) 14.21m.
