Athletics newsletter

At h let ic s Fe derA t io n o F indiA – november 2023

September - 2023
Federation
of India www.indianathletics.in

IndIan athletes
won laurels on the
streets of dubaI
pg. 04 I The National U23 Meet in pg. 06 I Haryana contingent won
inside Chandigarh was a good platform for overall trophy at the 38th National
Story
promising athletes to showcase their talent. Junior Athletics Championships
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 Indian distance runners lifted the Asian
Half Marathon men’s team trophy; the
women’s team won bronze

members of the Indian team that competed at the Asian Half marathon in Dubai.

the inaugural Asian Half marathon last
weekend (November 11) in Dubai proved
to be an excellent platform for Indian
distance runners to exhibit their prowess.
While Army’s 25 years old Sawan barwal
won an individual bronze medal, the men’s
team overall won the gold medal. the
women’s team finished third.
barwal celebrated Diwali in style by winning
bronze with a time of 1:04:30 seconds,
which was marginally slower than his
personal best of 1:04:17 clocked at Delhi’s
half marathon in mid-October.
the national men’s record for the 21km is 60
minutes 30 seconds clocked by Olympian
Avinash Sable in 2020. the women’s 21km

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 At h let ic s Fe derA t io n o F indiA November - 2023

national record of 1:10:31 was clocked in

2017 by Suriya Loganathan.

barwal said he could have raced faster

in Dubai, but fell short of his target time of
63 minutes due to lack of experience to
tackle the 21km distance.

barwal---specialise in longer track races-

--5,000m and 10,000m---but this year he
tested his speed and endurance over
the 21km. He made his 21km debut in
mid-October at Delhi’s half marathon. He
finished third in the Delhi race. The Asian
Half marathon was his second road race.

the army runner said he went too fast in

the opening 10km in Dubai. “I was in the
lead group and timed less than 30 minutes
for the first 10km,” he added.

As the race progressed he slightly drifted

away from the lead pack. “I lost contact
with the leading group at 16km,” Barwal
said. “I tried hard to recover the lost ground
in the last 2 km but the gap was too big.”

While barwal won individual bronze, the

Hangzhou Asian Games 10,000m silver
medallist, Kartik Kumar, was fifth (1:05:21).
Abhishek pal, the third runner in the team,
clocked 1:08:05 seconds to cross the finish
line at 13th position. Kumar and pal are
also from the army.

the women’s team consisting of poonam

Dinkar, she finished 9th (1:19:28), Kavita Sawan barwal won individual bronze at
Yadav was 10th (1:19:33) and Rima Patel the Asian Half marathon.
was 11th (1:19:40) won team bronze.

Barwal said he could have raced faster in Dubai, but

fell short of his target time of 63 minutes due to lack of
experience to tackle the 21km distance.

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 The National U23 Meet in Chandigarh
was a good platform for promising
athletes to showcase their talent.
the 2023 edition of the National U23 Open Athletics Championships spread
over three days---October 20 to 22---in Chandigarh turned out to be an
excellent platform for promising athletes to showcase their potential ahead of
an important 2024 season that will be highlighted by the paris Olympic Games.

As many as 20 athletes improved the meet

records in the competition. In the men’s
200m, the gold and silver medalists dipped
under 21 seconds. Odisha’s promising
sprinter Animesh Kujur won the race
clocking 20.87 seconds, bettering his own
time of 21.12 secs set in the previous edition.
Abhin b Devadiga of Karnataka too was
impressive, coming second at 20.99 secs.
the men’s 110m hurdles also saw the record
tumble in the heats, semis and the medal
round. maharashtra’s tejas Ashok Shirse
has been on song this year. He improved
his own 110m hurdles meet record thrice
in Chandigarh. Shrise clocked 13.77 secs in
the first round, improving on his meet record
of 14.12 secs set in the 2021 edition.
In the semis, Shirse further improved it to
13.60 secs. Odisha’s A Graceson Jeeva
also dipped under the previous meet
record, clocking 14.03 secs in the semis.
madhvendra Singh of rajasthan also
bettered the previous meet record in the
semis, clocking 14.04 secs.

In the final, Tejas (13.71 secs) improved on

his record further while Graceson (14.02
secs) bettered his personal best.
the women’s 100m hurdles also saw the
meet record erased with West bengal’s
moumita mondal winning gold clocking
13.65 secs. the old mark of 13.72 secs was thrower in action during National U23 Open Athletics meet in
set by Agasara Nandini in 2022. Chandigarh.

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 At h let ic s Fe derA t io n o F indiA
Field events
The field events were a big attraction. In discus,
rajasthan’s Dinesh Kumar achieved a distance
of 53.66m to win gold, erasing the meet record
of 53.27m set in 2021 by basukesh poonia.
manipur’s Oinam Singh also improved on the old
meet mark, throwing 53.56m to take silver.
punjab’s Dhanvir Singh dominated shot put. His
gold winning effort of 19.56m was better than
Samardeep Gill’s meet record of 17.79m set in
2022.
In javelin, Yashvir Singh won gold with a throw of
78.12m. It bettered the 76.97m meet record of
rishabh Nehra set in 2022.
Nitesh poonia of rajasthan was close to
improving his own 2022 record of 64.75m in
hammer throw, but his gold winning throw in
Chandigarh was 64.38m.
In women javelin throw, Jyoti of Haryana won
with an effort of 52.77m. the previous meet
record was 51.07m, set by Karishma Sanil in 2022.
Haryana’s Deepika too dipped below the old
meet record while taking silver with a distance of
51.64m.
md Asraf Ali of West bengal won the high jump
clearing 2.15m, improving upon the meet record
of 2.13m set by Kaustubha Jaiswal last year.
November - 2023
men’s 3000m steeplechase in progress.
Distance running
Like men’s javelin since Neeraj Chopra exploits,
the men’s 3000m steeplechase too attracts more
youngsters after Avinash Sable’s international
performances. the army distance runner and
national record holder from maharashtra
qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games to
inspire young athletes. He also won silver at the
2022 birmingham Commonwealth Games.
In Chandigarh, Gujarat’s Sunil Joliya Jinabahi
won the race clocking 8:39.98 seconds, which
was better than Atul poonia’s previous meet
record of 8:49.13 clocked in 2021.
Haryana’s Sourabh Antil took silver at 8:43.29
secs, nearly six seconds better than the previous
meet record.
the men’s 5000m too witnessed the top four
finishers improve the previous meet record of
14:13.92 seconds. Maharashtra’s Shadab Pathan
won gold with a meet record of 14:06.10 secs.
In the women’s 20km race walk saw
maharashtra’s Sehal Anil Singh improve the
meet record by nearly two minutes. She won
at 1:37:53.71. the previous meet record of
1:40:02 ws set by mansi Negi of Uttarakhand in
2022. mansi won silver but improved her best
(1:38:10.37).
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 Haryana contingent won overall
trophy at the 38th National Junior
Athletics Championships
members of the Haryana team with the overall trophy.
Haryana contingent won the overall trophy at
the 38th National Junior Athletics Championships
that concluded last week at Coimbatore’s Nehru
Stadium. the winning team collected 411 points to
race ahead of host Tamil Nadu that finished second
with 362 points. the Uttar pradesh team was third
with 238 points.
the Haryana also won the girls’ trophy with 244
points. While the boy’s overall trophy went to tamil
Nadu with 170 points.
On the individual front, rajasthan’s manoj piploda
(shot put) Nishchay (shot put) of Haryana, Sandeep
Gond (110m hurdles) from maharashtra and West
bengal’s Karna bag (400m hurdles) were declared
best male athletes in their respective age groups.
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Joy baidwan (shot put--punjab), Vala roshanba
(100m--Gujarat), pooja (high jump--Haryana) and
Ashakiran barla (800m--Jharkhand) were awarded
best female athletes in their respective age groups.
to encourage budding athletes, team
championships was also announced in the different
age groups. the U14 boys’ team title went to Delhi
as they collected 21 points. While Haryana emerged
winner of the team trophy in the U16 boys’ group
with 57 points, tamil Nadu walked away with the U18
boys’ team title. With 62 points, the U20 boys’ title
went to Uttar pradesh.
Haryana dominated the girls’ section. team titles in
all four age groups—U14 (24 points), U16 (56 points),
U18 (91 points) and U20 (73 points) went to Haryana.
 At h let ic s Fe derA t io n o F indiA November - 2023

Maharashtra’s promising hurdler Tejas

Ashok Shirse has exciting plans
for the Olympic year
maharashtra’s 21-year-old tejas Ashok shirse
has emerged the front runner to break the
men’s 110m hurdles record next season. the
mark of 13.48 seconds stands in the name of
siddhanth thingalaya.

Shirse was the most consistent in the 2023

season, winning almost all his races by a good
margin. He has a season’s best of 13.60 secs,
clocked in Chandigarh at the National U23
Open Athletics Championships.
On his way to winning gold during the 37th
National Games in Goa, Shirse’s gold medal-
winning time of 13.71 secs was better than the
previous Games record of 13.83 secs set by
thingalaya in 2015.
“I could have further improved, but hit at
least three hurdles in the first 60m of the race,”
Shirse said. “Knocking down hurdles was a bit
of a distraction. It also robbed me of a good
time.”
tejas started the season with 60m hurdles at
the 10th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships
in Nur Sultan. And before he seriously thought
of attacking the hurdles, he competed in the
100m/200m sprints at the Indian Grand prix in
April. His 100m time was 10.89 seconds, while
he clocked 21.96 seconds for the 200m.
the last three years have been quite
challenging yet satisfying for the maharashtra
hurdler. Last year, he broke the 14 seconds
barrier for the 110m hurdles. His personal best
tejas Ashok Shirse
in 2022 was 13.84 seconds, which he lowered
to 13.60 secs earlier this season. the promising hurdler plans to take a break
He won gold at the national Inter-state too before attacking the national record. “Next
in mid-June, but missed the Asian Games year, I plan to go for International exposure
qualifying mark and was not picked for to Europe,” Shrise said. “I need quality
Hangzhou. competition to improve my performance.”

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 Emerging distance track star from
Himachal Pradesh has big plans
for 2024 season
Seema of Himachal pradesh emerged as a new
star distance track runner in the women’s group
at the season-ending competition during the 37th
National Games in Goa.

the 22 years old runner from district Chamba in

Himachal pradesh unleashed a long and hard
finishing kick in the last lap of both 5,000m and
10,000m races to earn gold medals to send a
warning signal to her rivals ahead of the 2024
season.

Her next goal is to stay healthy and further improve

her performance in 2024. “the competition in Goa
was a good platform to test my speed endurance,”
Seema said. “to continue to dominate the track
events and make a big impression next year, I need
to further improve my fitness.”
Seema graduated to the senior level last year. Of
the four domestic 10,000m races she won gold in
three and settled for silver in one race. Incidentally,
she couldn’t achieve the qualification standard for
the Asian Games this year. “It was a good learning
lesson,” was all she said of missing the Hangzhou
Asian Games.
two gold medals at the National Games in Goa,
said Seema added to her profile, but it will also
motivate young girls back home in her village to
pursue sports.
“Several school going girls have started running in
our village (reta). I’m excited that they want to
follow in my footsteps,” she said.
According to Seema when she started sports,
villagers were unhappy as they believed girls should
stay home and do household work.
Seema
Her father, who was instrumental in guiding her,
passed away in 2012. raised by a single mother,
Seema said it was quite challenging for the family of
six siblings including three sisters.
being the youngest in the family, Seema got support
from her family and she didn’t let them down. She
further got a thrust in distance running in 2015 when
she joined Sports Authority of India (SAI) hostel in
Dharamshala. “I got better facilities, including a
proper diet,” she said.
Having a good diet and training she excelled at
the junior national competition. Her outstanding
performance at the junior level earned her sports
ministry’s Khelo India scholarship of rs 10,000 in 2018.
“It was a big support to me,” she added.
In 2021 she got a job in the banking sector in
Himachal pradesh, which further enabled to work
hard. “I’m lucky to get a job and support my
family,” she said.

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 November - 2023

Adille Sumariwalla appointed member of the

World Athletics Development Commission

the World Athletics on

Sunday (November
5) confirmed the
appointment of Adille
Sumariwalla as one
of the 11 members
of its Development
Commission for
2023-2027 period.
Sumariwalla, who is one
of the vice presidents
of the World Athletics,
is also among the four
members appointed
to the executive board
Audit and Finance
Committee.

Athletics Federation of india www.indianathletics.in

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