Aarti Wins Bronze in 10000m Race Walk with National Record at World U20 Championships

Aarti secured a bronze medal in the women's 10,000m race walk at the World U20 Athletics Championships on Friday. The 17-year-old completed the event in 44 minutes and 39.39 seconds, setting a new national U20 record for India.

In the men's 4x400m relay heats, the Indian team of Rihan Chaudhary, Ankul, Abiram Pramod, and Jay Kumar set a new national U20 record. They clocked 3 minutes and 8.10 seconds to finish second in heat 3, qualifying for the final round.

National Records Broken

Aarti's performance broke her previous national record of 47:21.04, which she had set in March during the National Federation Cup U20 Championships in Lucknow. Chinese athletes Zhuoma Baima and Meiling Chen won gold and silver with times of 43:26.60 and 44:30.67 respectively.

The women's 4x400m relay team also set a new national U20 record. Rujula Amol Bhonsle, Neole Anna Cornelio, Abinaya Rajarajan, and Sudheeksha Vadluri clocked 45.31 seconds but narrowly missed qualifying for the final by finishing ninth overall.

High Jump Achievement

On Thursday night, Pooja Singh set a new national U20 women's high jump record during the qualification round. The 17-year-old from Fatehbad district in Haryana cleared a height of 1.83m to finish second in group B and ninth overall, securing her place in the final on Saturday.

Pooja is the daughter of a mason and previously held the national U20 record with a height of 1.82m. She set this record last year while winning a silver medal at the Asian U20 Championships in Korea.

These achievements highlight India's growing talent in athletics at the junior level. The young athletes have shown remarkable potential by breaking multiple national records at an international event.