Abinaya Rajarajan, Neil Samraj R Shatter National Records at National Junior Athletics Championships 2026

New Delhi, Oct 23: Tamil Nadu sprinters Abinaya Rajarajan and Neil Samraj R delivered record-breaking performances on the opening day of the 41st N...

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New Delhi, Oct 23: Tamil Nadu sprinters Abinaya Rajarajan and Neil Samraj R delivered record-breaking performances on the opening day of the 41st National Junior Athletics Championships 2026 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, with both athletes setting new national records in their respective 100m events.

Abinaya clinched gold in the Under-20 women's 100m, clocking 11.49 seconds to improve her own national record of 11.54 seconds, set in Kochi last year. The performance underlined the young sprinter's growing stature in Indian athletics.

Tamil Nadu enjoyed further success as Neil Samraj R broke his own national record in the Under-18 men's 100m. Neil stormed to gold in 10.45 seconds, bettering the previous mark of 10.46 seconds that he had set earlier

this year in Ludhiana. He also broke the meet record of 10.63 seconds, previously held by Anshu Rajak.

In the women's Under-20 discus throw, Punjab's Amanat Kamboj produced a winning effort of 51.44 metres to claim gold and set a new meet record. She surpassed the previous championship mark of 49.85 metres, set by Kamalpreet Kaur. Uttar Pradesh's Supriya Attri finished a close second with 51.40 metres, while Tamil Nadu's Anushree KS took third with 46.82 metres.

Elsewhere, Maharashtra's Abhinandan Suryavanshi won the men's Under-20 5,000m, while Uttar Pradesh's Arya Dev topped the men's Under-20 pole vault. Karnataka's Tamanna claimed gold in the women's Under-20 5,000m, and West Bengal's Misti Karmakar emerged victorious in the women's Under-18 javelin throw.

The opening day also featured competitions in the Under-14 triathlon events, with Pinki Pal of West Bengal winning the girls' category and Sumit Yadav of Uttar Pradesh taking the boys' title.