India end World Athletics U20 Championships with 3 medals

National senior record holder high jumper Pooja Singh failed to live up to the expectations, finishing seventh in the final, as India ended their World Athletics U20 Championships campaign with three medals here.

The 19-year-old Pooja could only clear 1.84m, way below her national senior record height of 1.93m. She failed to sail over 1.87m in three attempts. Izobelle Louison-Roe of Australia won the gold with 1.92m, while Lilianna Batori (1.90m) of Hungary and Aitana Alonso (1.90m) of Spain bagged the silver and bronze respectively. In May, Pooja had won gold in the Asian U20 Athletics Championships with the senior national record height of 1.93m. She is also the reigning gold medallist at the Senior Asian Athletics Championships.

The Indian women’s 4x400m relay team, meanwhile, finished ninth and last in the final, clocking 3 minutes 45.28 seconds. The team comprised Bhoomika Nehate, Tahura Khatun, Tanu Chaudhary and Thiya Arumugam.

USA won the gold with a time of 3:29.15s, while Australia (3:31.39s) and Great Britain (3:32.08s) took the silver and bronze respectively.

With two silver and one bronze here, India equalled the medal haul of the 2021 and 2022 editions.

Ashish Yadav had opened India’s medal account with a silver in the men’s javelin throw. Basant Kumar Meghwal and Shahnavaz Khan added a silver and bronze respectively in the men’s high jump and long jump.

From 2002 to 2018, India won just four medals in the World Athletics U20 Championships, including a gold each from Neeraj Chopra (men’s javelin throw in 2016) and Hima Das (women’s 400m race in 2018).

Discus thrower Seema Antil won India’s first-ever medal in the World Athletics U20 Championships with a silver in the 2002 edition in Jamaica, before Navjeet Kaur Dhillon won a bronze in the same event in 2014 in the USA.

In the 2021 edition, Amit (men’s 10,000m race walk) and Shaili Singh (women’s long jump) won a silver each while the mixed 4x400m relay team bagged a bronze.