ATHLETICS | Gaurav and Sonam shatter the under-20 steeple chase marks

At 38th Nat'l Jr Athl. Champs, Gaurav & Sonam set new records in U-20 3000m steeplechase; Sundhar clocked 10.55s for U-16 80m hurdles; Minakshi threw spear to 44.05m for U-14 javelin gold; Tejaswin, Chandhini & Dhriti shattered 34.46m record; Priyansh & Pooja set meet records.

Gaurav Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), Sonam (Delhi), Kaila Syam Sundhar (Andhra Pradesh) and Minakshi (Haryana) found their way into the record books on the penultimate day of the 38th National junior athletics championship at the Nehru Stadium here on Thursday.

Gaurav and Sonam worked hard for the gold and a new record in the under-20 3000m steeplechase for boys and girls respectively.

Earlier, Sundhar clocked 10.55s for the record in the boys’ under-16 80m hurdles, while Minakshi threw the spear to a new distance of 44.05m for the girls’ under-14 javelin gold.

Interestingly, the next three in line, Tejaswin Dhal (Odisha), Chandhini Aahla Sarimai (Andhra) and Dhriti Anand (Uttarkhand), also shattered the national mark of 34.46m set by Tejaswin earlier this year.

Uttarkhand’s Priyansh (boys, U-18 1500m) and Haryana’s Pooja (girls U-18 high jump) set new meet records in their respective events.

The host athletes struck it rich as well winning three gold medals of which two came in the boys’ section. Sharon Jestus cleared 7.70m for the under-20 long jump gold and Rathish Pandidurai finished on top of the podium in the same category.

Later, Jenista Shanu clinched the under-14 girls’ long jump gold with a distance of 5.30m