U20 World Athletics Championships | Long-jumper Shaili Singh claim silver medal, race-walker Amit Khatri script similar record

India’s tryst with track and field events seemed to have escalated to a whole new level in the past month, starting off with the historic gold medal win by Neeraj Chopra at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Basking in the hangover, the Indian athletes have been more than impressive in the U20 World Athletics Championships, in Nairobi.

Indian long-jumper Shaili Singh missed out on creating history by a whisker as she fell short of a gold medal win by just 1 cm, with a leap of 6.59m. Meanwhile, European junior champion Maja Askag claimed the top honours with a 6.60m jump in the final day of the showpiece event.

"I could have jumped farther than 6.59m and won the gold. My mother had told me about winning gold and the national anthem being sung in the stadium (but I could not do it)," said Shaili Singh, after winning the silver medal.

"I am just 17, I want a gold in the next U20 World Championships (in Cali, Colombia). There are also Asian Games and Commonwealth Games next year and I want to do well in those events,” she added.

On the other hand, Amit Khatri, also claimed a second place finish in the men’s 10km race-walk, having covered the distance in 42:17:94s. Kenya’s Heristone Wanyonyi, who was the eventual winner, was approximately seven seconds quicker than the Indian athlete.