Railways bag two gold medals on opening day of National Open Athletics Championship

It was a great start to the 60th National Open Athletics Championship for Team Railways as runners Abhishek Pal and Parul Chaudhary won the men's and women's 5000m titles, respectively, on Wednesday. The 24-year-old Abhishek clinched his maiden 5000m title at the Nationals with a timing of 14:16.35 seconds.

Dharmender, finished second clocking 14:17.20s, while Ajay Kumar claimed the bronze medal with a timing of 14:20.98s. In the women's 5000m race, Parul clocked 15:59.69s,  while Maharashtra’s Komal Jagadale was second with a timing of 16:01.43. Her state-mate Sanjivani Babar Jadhav (16:19.18s) was also among the medals on the first day of the competition. 

As far as the women's pole vault is concerned, Tamil Nadu's Pavithra Venkatesh won the gold, clearing the bar at 3.90m. Railways' Mariya Jaison (3.80m) and Krishna Rachan (3.60m) took silver and bronze respectively.

With a number of senior athletes giving this championship a miss, the focus is on youngsters, keeping in mind the future. Summy, who was in the bronze medal winning team of the 4x400m mixed relay at the World Athletics U20 Championships 2021 in Kenya, disappointed. 

She faced stiff competition in the women's 400m heats and finished fifth with a timing of 56.31 seconds and missed out on a place in the final.

Day 1 results:

Men

5000m: Abhishek Pal (Rlys) 14:16.35; Dharmender (Ser) 14:17.20; Ajay Kumar (Ser) 14:20.98

Women

5000m: Parul Chaudhary (Rlys) 15:59.69; Komal Jagadale (MAH) 16:01.43; Sanjivani Jadhav (MAH) 16:19.18

Pole vault: Pavithra Venkatesh (TN) 3.90m; Mariya Jaison (Rlys) 3.80m; Krishna Rachan (Rlys) 3.70m