India Shines at World U20 Athletics Championships: Record-Breaking Feats and Bronze Medals

Aarti won a bronze in the women's 10000m race walk event, setting a national U20 record at the World U20 Athletics Championships. Several Indian athletes broke national records, including men's and women's 4x400m relay teams. Pooja Singh also set a new national high jump U20 record to reach the finals.

Aarti clinched a bronze medal in the women's 10000m race walk, setting a national U20 record time to kickstart India's medal tally at the World U20 Athletics Championships on Friday.

The 17-year-old recorded a time of 44:39.39 to secure third place in the demanding event on the second-last day of the competition.

This impressive performance shattered her previous national record of 47:21.04, which she achieved in March during the National Federation Cup U20 Championships in Lucknow. Chinese competitors Zhuoma Baima and Meiling Chen won gold and silver respectively.

In the men's 4x400m relay heats, the Indian quartet of Rihan Chaudhary, Ankul, Abiram Pramod, and Jay Kumar broke the national U20 record with a time of 3:08.10, securing second place in Heat 3 and advancing to the final.

The women's 4x400m relay team comprising Rujula Amol Bhonsle, Neole Anna Cornelio, Abinaya Rajarajan, and Sudheeksha Vadluri also set a new national U20 record with a time of 45.31 seconds. However, they narrowly missed a spot in the final, finishing ninth overall. On Thursday night, Pooja Singh set a new national U20 women's high jump record to qualify for the final, clearing a height of 1.83m to finish second in Qualification Group B and ninth overall.

Pooja, the daughter of a mason from Haryana's Fatehbad district, smashed her own previous national U20 record of 1.82m, which she set last year while winning a silver medal at the Asian U20 Championships in Korea.

(With inputs from agencies.)