Karnataka pole vaulter Sindhushree G shattered the national record and secured her spot for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with a gold medal-winning performance of 4.25 meters at the 65th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) confirmed that 17 athletes achieved the Asian Games qualification standards on the second day of the event at Kalinga Stadium.
Record-Breaking Performance
Sindhushree, 26, not only won the gold medal but also improved the national record from 4.23 meters, previously set by Baranica, who settled for silver with a height of 4.20 meters. The new mark also bettered the meet record of 4.10 meters set by Pavithra Venkatesh in 2023. The Asian Games qualification mark was 4.10 meters, which Sindhushree surpassed with ease.
“I had trained hard but the national record was a bonus,” said Sindhushree, according to an AFI press release. “I was mentally prepared to book an Asian Games berth.”
Other Qualifiers in Women’s Events
Nitika Akare of Madhya Pradesh won the bronze medal in women’s pole vault with a height of 4.10 meters, also achieving the Asian Games qualification mark. In the women's 200 meters, all three medalists bettered the qualification time of 23.70 seconds: Harita Bhadra (Maharashtra) clocked 23.14 seconds, Unnathi Bollanda (Karnataka) 23.40 seconds, and Prakruthi Poopa Rao (Karnataka) 23.58 seconds. Similarly, in the women's 800 meters, Gowthami Jayaraman (Tamil Nadu) won gold in 2:04.17, followed by Pooja (Haryana) in 2:04.37 and Lili Das (Uttarakhand) in 2:04.59, all under the qualification time of 2:05.21. In women's shot put, Manpreet Kaur (Haryana) threw 17.75 meters, Krishna Jayashankar (Tamil Nadu) 16.69 meters, and Srishti Vig (Delhi) 16.96 meters, all exceeding the qualification mark of 16.25 meters.
Men’s Track Events
In the men's 200 meters, Odisha's Animesh Kujur was the sole athlete to achieve the Asian Games mark of 20.88 seconds, winning gold with a time of 20.74 seconds. Dondapathi Mruthy Jayaram (Odisha) took silver in 20.97 seconds, and Jishnu Prasad PK (Kerala) bronze in 21.18 seconds. In the men's 800 meters, Mohammed Afsal of Kerala won gold in 1:48.57, and Krishan Kumar of Haryana silver in 1:48.82, both beating the qualification time of 1:48.80 seconds. Prathamesh Deore (Maharashtra) finished third in 1:48.89 seconds, just missing the mark. “My goal is to improve my fitness to clock below 1:45 for the 800m in the near future,” said Mohammed Afsal.
Other Men’s Events
In the discus throw, Kirpal Singh (Chandigarh) won gold with 57.37 meters, followed by Nirbhay Singh (Haryana) with 55.26 meters and Arjun (Delhi) with 54.90 meters, all below the qualification mark of 60.13 meters. In the 21km race walk, Sevin Sebastian (Tamil Nadu) took gold in 1:31:49.00, Sachin Bohra (Uttarakhand) silver in 1:32:10.00, and Ningthoukhongja (Manipur) bronze in 1:32:24.00, none meeting the qualification time of 1:25:37.00. In the decathlon, Thowfeeq N (Kerala) scored 7276 points, Kushal Mohite (Maharashtra) 7251 points, and Jasbir Nayak (Odisha) 7131 points, with the qualification mark set at 7250 points.
