History At U20 Asian Athletics Champions! Nitin Gupta Bags Gold In Men’s 5000m Race Walk

India added two medals on Day 2 of the U20 Asian Athletics Championships as Nitin Gupta clinched a gold medal in the men’s 5000m race walk, while Sadhna Ravi secured a silver in the women’s triple jump here on Friday.

Nitin clocked 19:47.49 to finish on top of the podium, while Sheng-qin Lo of Taipei (19:56.17) and Japan’s Chihiro Obata (20:06.73) took silver and bronze respectively.

This is India’s first gold at this edition of the competition. “Nitin Gupta walks his way into history with a sensational GOLD in the Men’s 5000m Race Walk!” the Athletics Federation of India posted on X.

History For Nitin

This was remarkable redemption for Nitin, as the 18-year-old had appeared to script a breakthrough performance in the men’s 10km race walk, defeating India’s 40-year-old

national record holder and double Olympian Sandeep Kumar in a gripping contest at the National Senior Athletics Federation competition at the Birsa Munda Football Stadium on Saturday.

However, a protest was lodged against Nitin by Sandeep’s camp, and the complaint was accepted for review by the jury. Nitin was subsequently disqualified for violating Rule 6.2 (giving or receiving assistance from other athletes).

In the women’s triple jump, Sadhna won silver with a best effort of 12.84m (+0.5). Chinese jumper Yiqing Xie (13.36m, +1.3) clinched the gold, while Mariya Chshipacheva of Kazakhstan took bronze with a personal best jump of 12.70m.

On Day 1, national record holder Nipam stormed onto the podium with a blazing 11.62s to claim bronze in the women’s 100m.

India also has a strong chance of winning a medal in the decathlon. Rahul Jakhar was impressive on the first day of the gruelling ten-event competition, held over two days. In the 100m, Jakhar clocked 10.70s to earn 929 points. In the long jump, he collected 760 points with a leap of 6.77m.

In the shot put, his best throw of 13.04m earned him 670 points. In the high jump (1.93m), he added 740 points to his tally. In the last event of the day, the 400m, he clocked 50.25s to earn 803 points.

At the previous edition of the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Dubai in 2024, India finished third in the standings with 29 medals, including seven golds.

(With inputs from Agencies)