The National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships concluded with star long jumper Murali Sreeshankar and javelin thrower Rohit Yadav delivering top-class performances.
India's Asian Games athletics team has been trimmed to 74 members, with prominent athletes like javelin thrower Annu Rani, long jumper Shahnavaz Khan, and sprinter Nithya Gandhe dropped due to performance or medical reasons. The decision followed a confirmatory event, while some injured national record holders were cleared to participate.
The newly-built stadium at Sariahtali in Nalbari district of Assam will host the seventh leg of Indian Athletics Series on June 6.
Animesh Kujur of Odisha emerged as the star of the Indian Athletics Series, winning both the 100m and 200m races. Hima Das also made her return to the track after a two-year absence.
Indian middle and long-distance runner Ankita Dhyani achieved a personal best time of 4:06.75s in the women's 1500m race at the Stumptown Twilight event in Portland, USA, finishing second. This performance is the fastest by an Indian this season and the fourth fastest ever, highlighting her consistent improvement and strong form.
A star-studded field, including national record holders, will compete at the Indian Athletics Series 3 in New Delhi, motivated by the new Mondo track at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Indian track athlete K M Deeksha set a new National record in the women's 1500 metres while Avinash Sable finished second in the men's 5000m event at the Sound Running Track Fest in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Gulveer Singh, the reigning Asian champion and national record holder, failed to meet the Asian Games qualifying standard in the men's 5000m race at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships.
Rohit Yadav lit up Bhubaneswar's Kalinga Stadium with a career-best throw of 87.05m in the men's javelin throw on the concluding day of the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships.
Neeraj Chopra has been included in India's 32-member Commonwealth Games athletics squad, subject to achieving the AFI qualification mark after recovering from a back injury. The Olympic champion is expected to return to competition within days.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will conduct SRY Gene Tests in national-level competitions to ensure fair competition in the women's category. They will also conduct DNA testing of upcoming athletes for research and development purposes.
Indian javelin throw superstar Neeraj Chopra would hope that his lengthy injury-forced absence from competition does not affect his rhythm when he returns to action against an in-form line-up of heavyweight rivals in the familiar environs of the Doha Diamond League on Friday.
Gurindervir Singh's record-breaking 10.09-second run in the 100m at the Federation Cup National Championships has ignited hopes for Indian athletes to finally break the coveted sub-10-second barrier. Experts believe that with the right training, equipment, and opportunities, an Indian sprinter could achieve this milestone in the near future.
Two-time Asian Games champion shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor is set to compete in the Indian Open Throws Competition in Patiala, aiming to evaluate his form ahead of major events like the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
CWG-bound sprinter Dhanalakshmi and triple jumper Aishwarya Babu fail dope test
The National Senior Federation Competition scheduled to be held in Ranchi from May 22 to 25 will serve as the final selection event for the country's track and field athletes for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games starting July 23.
Rohit Yadav clinched the javelin throw gold medal at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships to keep himself in contention for a berth in the World Championships in Tokyo.
The Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar is one of the best facilities in the country and it has hosted several national championships and the Asian Championships in 2017 during which it had earned praise from the current World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.
During the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, Johnson broke Bahadur Prasad's 23-year-old 1500m national record with a time of 3 minute 37.86 seconds though he finished fifth in the final.
Chopra focussing on rehabilitation of his back injury, season opener not known yet: Sumariwalla
Powell rose to claim the sprint double in the inaugural National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Allahabad in February 1963, winning the 100m race in 10.8 seconds and the 200m in 22.0 seconds.
Hima came to the limelight after winning 400m gold in the World Junior Championships in Finland in 2018.
Seema Punia hurled the disc to a distance of 57.35m to claim a silver medal at the Qosanov Memorial athletics meet.
Star sprinter Hima Das on Saturday suffered an injury scare after sustaining a muscle pull during the 100m heats at the ongoing National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Patiala.
Tejaswin will however focus on Asian Games 2023, which will be held from Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8.
Nipon trained the athlete at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium in the Assam capital.
Junior National team chief coach Ramesh Nagpuri was suspended by the National Anti Doping Agency for "complicity" in doping and seven athletes were in dock for "evading" tests after a slew of dope cases rocked Indian athletics.
Haryana's 3000m steeplechaser Priti Lamba was on Monday added to the Indian athletics team for the Hangzhou Asian Games
Build-up hit by pull-outs and dope flunks, India still hopeful of good show in Asian Athletics Championships from Wednesday
Known as the 'Dhing Express', she was handed the suspension under a case resolution agreement as per the NADA website. She is currently training in Thiruvananthapuram.
'She has worked really hard after coming back from injury. The strength and conditioning team have worked really hard to get her in peak physical shape. Technically, she will be using a stiffer and longer pole.'
Out of the 10 gold on offer on the opening day of athletics competitions, Maharashtra and Services picked up two each, while Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Tamil Nadu claimed one each.
The 27-year old Lakshmanan, who bagged a gold medal at the recently concluded Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, has already qualified for the World Championships to be held in London next month.
Several Indian athletes secured their spots for the upcoming Paris Olympics, with Jyothi Yarraji becoming the country's first female 100m hurdler to qualify.
Rani had bettered her own national record with a throw of 63.24m during the Federation Cup in March before a performance of 62.83m in the National Inter-State Championships this week.
National record holder triple jumper Renjith Maheswary became the second Indian athlete to qualify for this year's World Championship in Moscow as he clinched a gold on the final day the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Chennai.
Parul Chaudhary became only the second Indian female athlete to qualify for the final of a track event at the World Athletics Championships.
Tejas Shirse broke the previous national record of 13.48 seconds set by Siddhanth Thingalaya in 2017.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
They were adjudged best male and female athlete respectively in the Senior National Inter-state athletics championships.
