Asian Athletics Championships 2023 - An Event To Remember For Team India

The 25th Asian Athletic Championships, held in Bangkok, Thailand, was in itself a prestigious tournament in the world of athletics, but the importance of the competition was so much more. The competition gave the athletes a chance to gauge themselves ahead of the grand Asian Games which is about to be held in China later this year. The event also served as a platform to qualify for the World Athletics Championship and our athletes surely gave it their all on the tracks and made the most out of every millisecond. Owing to that, India finished 3rd in the overall medal tally at the end of 5 days of intense athletic action bagging 27 medals across all competitions.

With the Asian Games coming up in a couple of months, this competition was extremely crucial for our Indian athletes. It served as a perfect platform to understand their strengths and work on their weaknesses before competing with the same athletes in China as well. The stakes were high, but our athletes delivered in style. Personal best timings were beaten, national records were broken, and history was made in the span of these five days, with the highlight being Reliance Foundation athlete, Jyothi Yarraji. 

The 23-year old sprinter hogged the limelight as she brought India their first gold medal in the competition kickstarting the 2nd day of the event on a perfect note. It was a moment to remember as our National Anthem was played courtesy to Jyothi becoming an Asian Champion with a fabulous timing of 13.09s in the 100m hurdles event. The hurdler has been in terrific form over the last few competitions and it wasn’t surprising to see her on the podium. With such an impressive show, Jyothi is now ready to push herself further and aim for a stellar show in Asian Games 2023. 

Before Jyothi lit up the tracks with her sublime show, Abhishek Pal, our 10,000m athlete, had kicked off India’s medal count on the first day of the competition with a bronze medal to his name. He clocked a time of 29.33.26s and was just 15 seconds behind the 2nd position. Annu Rani finished 4th in the women’s javelin throw event by fine margins.

Tejaswin Shankar followed the medal parade by clinching the bronze medal after a testing 2-day decathlon event. Our 400m athlete, Aishvarya Mihsra too grabbed the bronze medal after clocking a time of 53.07s. The next athletes winning gold medals were Ajay Kumar and Abdulla Abbubakar in the men’s 1500m event and the men’s triple jump event respectively.

After a joyous second day for the Indian team, the medals continued to come India’s way on day 3. Parul Chaudhary won the gold medal in the women’s 3000m Steeplechase final. Shaili Singh also won her first senior major medal in the women’s long jump event. To end the day on a high, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, our men’s Shot Put athlete, threw a distance of 20.3m and secured another Gold for India and the medal tally turned 9 at the end of day 3.

Santhosh Kumar kicked off Day 4 with a bronze medal in the men's 400m hurdles event. He was followed by Sarvesh Kushare who bagged the silver medal in the men’s high jump final recording a height of 2.28m and just missed out on a gold. Murali Shreeshankar too bagged the silver medal in the men’s long jump final as the youngster screamed at the top of his lungs after his second biggest jump of this season. Murali also qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics as an added cherry on top.

Swapna Barman too got the silver medal in the Heptathlon event and lastly, the mixed 4x400m relay team clinched the gold working as a team and clocking an incredible time of 3:14.70s.

Finally, the last day of the competition came, and India went hammer and tongs across all events. Bagging a whopping total of 13 medals on the 5th day of the Asian Athletics Championships, India solidified their spot in the medals table. Jyothi Yarraji picked up her 2nd medal of the competition, this time a silver in the 200m finals clocking 23.13s, her personal best. Reliance Foundation athlete Gulveer Singh was the other highlight of the day as he clinched bronze in the 5000m Finals.

Team India’s powerful performances on the tracks have been praised by everyone and rightly so. This has been the best performance by our contingent on foreign soil in the history of the Asian Athletics Championships. The hopes are now high as the athletes get ready for the Asian Games. The challenge will be stiff for the Indians in Hangzhou, but the promise is there for a successful outing.

Watch the RF Athletes from Asian Athletics Championship here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CupOs0SJYc4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuoqBN0MtJ-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 

About Reliance Foundation Sports: Reliance Foundation celebrates the spirit of sports – joy, health, grit, determination, winning and losing. And works to ensure that more and more children and youth from all sections of society can play sports and, in the process, build a fitter, stronger and more active India. Our initiatives have touched the lives of over 22 million young people since 2013 across the country from 13,000+ schools and colleges, enabling an opportunity for a talented kid anywhere to be able to achieve their dream of a career/glory in sports. We are especially committed to ensuring more presence and success of girl and women athletes in India and design our programs in a manner that offers them maximum opportunities. At Reliance Foundation, we hope to be the wind beneath the wings of Indian sportspersons and help them reach their true potential. For more information please follow us on www.rfyouthsports.com

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