Gumi, South Korea: Indian athletes continue to shine at the 26th Asian Athletics Championships, with the latest triumphs coming from 18-year-old high jumper Pooja and long-distance runner Gulveer Singh, who secured a golden double. Their outstanding performances have further bolstered India’s medal tally, placing the nation firmly in second position.
Pooja Leaps to High Jump Gold at 18
In a remarkable display of talent and grit, Pooja, an 18-year-old from Bosti village in Haryana’s Fatehabad district, clinched the gold medal in the women’s high jump. She cleared a personal best of 1.89m, becoming India’s youngest ever Asian champion in athletics. Her victory also marks the first time since 2000 that an Indian woman has won gold in this event at the continental meet.
Pooja’s journey to the top has been one of overcoming significant obstacles. Hailing from a humble background, with a mason father, she trained with rudimentary equipment, including using bamboo sticks as a bar and sacks filled with rice husk as a landing mat in her early days. Despite a torn shoe during a practice session in Gumi, which she taped up, Pooja showed incredible resolve. She narrowly missed equaling the senior national record of 1.92m, but her 1.89m jump was enough to secure the top spot, beating Uzbekistan’s Safina Sadullaeva (silver, 1.86m) and Kazakhstan’s Yelizaveta Matveyeva (bronze, 1.86m). Her coach, Balwan Singh, and national coach Radhakrishnan Nair, expressed surprise and immense pride at her exceptional performance.
Gulveer Singh Achieves Golden Double in Distance Running
Not to be outdone, Gulveer Singh delivered a commanding performance to secure his second gold medal of the championships. After winning the 10,000m gold on the opening day, the 26-year-old Army runner added the men’s 5000m gold to his impressive collection, clocking a championship record of 13:24.77. This time eclipsed the previous record of 13:34.47 set in 2015.
Gulveer’s double gold makes him the first Indian in this edition of the Asian Athletics Championships to achieve such a feat, and he joins an elite group of Indian athletes to have won both the 5000m and 10,000m titles in the same edition, a feat last achieved by G Lakshmanan in 2017. His nearest competitors in the 5000m were Thailand’s Kieran Tuntivate (13:24.97) and Japan’s Nagiya Mori (13:25.06).
These stellar performances from Pooja and Gulveer Singh highlight India’s growing prowess in Asian athletics, as the nation continues to make its mark on the international stage. India now stands strong with 8 gold, 7 silver, and 3 bronze medals.
