National Open Athletics Championships | Long jumper Shaili Singh bags gold medal with season best performance
On the last day of the National Open Athletics Championships, Shaili Singh won the women's long jump championship in her first participation with a season-best leap of 6.41 meters. Her 6.25m long jump in her first attempt outperformed the 6.22m that Sruthi Lekshmi and Nayana James managed.
After Amlan Borgohain's 20.52 and 20.55 performances from the Federation Cup in April and the National Games earlier this month, Ragul Kumar of Tamil Nadu won the men's 200-meter event in 20.87 seconds, the third-fastest time by an Indian this year. Ragul Kumar ran his fastest mile in sub 21 seconds this time.
Murli Kumar Gavit of Gujarat won the 10,000-meter race for men, marking his first national victory in four years after winning the distance double in Bhubaneswar in September 2018. Akita Dhyani (Railways) won the 10,000-meter event in 34:39.05. This was her first time competing at the national level.
Ram Baboo (Uttar Pradesh) and Payal set meet marks in the 35km men's and women's race walks.
Ram Baboo won in 2 hours, 29 minutes, and 5 seconds, beating his previous time by more than seven minutes. Payal finished first in 3 hours, 4 minutes, and 48 seconds, beating the previous record holder Ramandeep Kaur by more than 10 minutes.
K M Rachna, a hammer thrower from Uttar Pradesh, surpassed Sarita Romit Singh, the holder of the national record, with three attempts over 60 meters, including a personal best of 63.66 meters.
Sarita Singh beat Tanya Chaudhary to second place by launching the ball and chain over 59.85 and 59.96 meters.
The men's and women's Best Athlete awards went to shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Services), whose effort was worth 1162 points, and 100-meter hurdler Jyothi Yarraji (Railways), whose time of sub-13 seconds was worth 1174 points.
With 297 points, Railways took first place in the overall team standings. Services and the host state of Karnataka came in second and third, respectively, with 174 and 69.50 points.
Services defeated Railways to win the men's competition after collecting all of its points in the male events. The Railways ladies scored an astounding 201 points, considerably surpassing Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.