Records were broken, history was made as new champions emerged. That was the Indian athletics’ story from the track and field arena of the Gumi Civic stadium in South Korea on Thursday. In a scintillating show at the Asian championships, the country’s athletes claimed three gold, two silver and a bronze in different events to cap off a memorable day.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Avinash Sable set the ball rolling by winning the men’s 3000m steeplechase, which was followed by Jyothi Yarraji’s sensational gold in the women’s 100m hurdles. The third top podium finish came in the women’s 4x400m relay, powered by the Indian quartet of Jisna Mathew, Rupal Chaudhary, Kunja Rajitha and Subha Venkatesan. The men’s 4x400m relay team took silver and Ancy Sojan and Shaili Singh ensured a 2-3 finish in the women’s long jump final.
Who's that IPL player?Sable’s last-lap burstThe day started with Asian Games gold medallist Sable ending the country’s 36-year-long wait for a gold medal in the men’s 3000m steeplechase in the continental meet. Sable clocked a season-best 8:20.92s. He had won silver in the Doha edition in 2019. Sable became the first Indian man since Dina Ram in 1989 to win continental gold in this event.
In a tactical race, the 30-year-old Indian surged ahead in the last lap, picking up pace to overtake Japan’s Yutaro Niinae (8:24.41s) just before the first hurdle. Qatar’s Zakaria Elahlaami (8:27.12s) finished third.
“The pace of the race was slow. It was about preserving your energy for the last. Going into the race, I was confident about my chances since I had prepared well for the event. The wet and rainy conditions increased the difficulty level but I managed to execute my plans,” Sable said after his race.
Jyothi, Asia’s finestJyothi became the first Indian to win back-to-back gold in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Asian meet. She crossed the finish line in a new continental record of 12.96s. The Hangzhou Asian Games silver medallist sailed over the last two hurdles effortlessly to move ahead of her rivals – Japan’s Yumi Tanaka and China’s Wu Yanni – both of whom clocked an identical 13.07s.
On her way to gold, Jyothi improved the long standing continental record of 12.97s, set in 1998 in Fukuoka, Japan by Yun Feng. The time of 12.96s was Jyothi’s season best. “I am happy to have broken the 13 seconds barrier again. It’s a good start to my season. It was a tough race as I wasn’t the quickest off the blocks. I trailed them (Tanaka and Wu) for most part of the race. In the final stretch, I was able to clear the hurdles. It helped me,” Jyothi said.
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