Tamil Nadu athlete Baranica Elangovan set a new national record in the women's pole vault at the National Indoor Championships in Bhubaneswar, clearing 4.22m.
The Jhansi-born athlete, who was raised by a single mother -- a tailor by profession -- currently trains at the academy of Anju Bobby George in Bengaluru. She is coached by Anju's husband Bobby George.
The medal count was nowhere close to satisfactory at the senior level but junior performances held out hope for a brighter future as Indian wrestling searched for new stars in a challenging 2025.
The Indian mixed 4x400m relay team on Wednesday won a bronze to clinch the country's fifth medal in the history of Under-20 World Athletics Championships in Nairobi.
She became the first Indian woman and the first ever Indian athlete to win a gold medal in any format of a global track event when she stood atop the podium at the IAAF World U20 Championships, clocking a time of 51.46 seconds.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
In other results, Vishal Thennarasu Kayalvizhi ran a personal best of 45.57s in the men's 400m but that could only fetch him a fourth-place finish.
Dev Kumar Meena won gold and set a new national record with a 5.35m effort at the National Federation Senior Athletics Competition 2025
Long jumper Shaili Singh lived up to the expectations as she made it to the finals after topping the qualification round with an effort of 6.40m in the Under-20 World Athletics Championships in Nairobi on Friday.
In 2022, he raced past Usain Bolt, 'the world's fastest man', to become the world's most written-about athlete. The attention has followed a stream of medals: Asian Games gold twice, an Olympic gold, and silver and gold at the World Athletics Championships.
Mohit Kumar on Wednesday became the first Indian wrestler to win junior world champion since 2019.
Javelin thrower Sachin Yadav of Uttar Pradesh, 18-year-old high jumper Pooja Singh of Haryana and long distance runner Sawan Barwal of Himachal Pradesh rewrote National Games records and won gold medals on the concluding day of athletics competition. Yadav sent his spear to a Games-record distance of 84.39m in his fifth attempt, while Pooja cleared 1.84m to defend the women's high jump gold. Barwal won the men's 5000m in a time of 13 minutes and 45.93 seconds, bettering the earlier Games record.
The quartet of Barath Sridhar, Priya Mohan, Kapil and Rupal Chaudhary clocked 3 minutes, 17.67 seconds to finish behind the United States (3:17.69).
Talented Priya Habbathanahalli Mohan aims to become the fastest quarter-miler of the country once again with an aim to bag a medal in the upcoming Asian Games.
Hima Das represents the generation of Naya Bharat athletes who are conscious of their responsibilities towards their society, state and country.
Shaili Singh finished third with a creditable effort of 6.65m in the women's long jump at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Yokohama on Sunday.
India's Parul Chaudhary and Priti secured silver and bronze medals respectively in the women's 3000m steeplechase, unheralded Ancy Sojan made a grand entry on the big stage.
Sports Awards could to be delayed: Ministry official
Murali Sreeshankar clinched a historic silver in men's long jump to give India its second medal in athletics at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Thursday.
Athletes and climate experts have expressed concerns that extreme heat could lead to severe health issues, including the risk of sportspeople collapsing or, in the worst-case scenarios, dying during the events.
Delhi HC open to IOA reconstituting ad hoc panel for WFI's functioning
Antim Panghal shocked reigning champion Olivia Dominique Parrish en route to the World Championship semifinals.
Sehwag mistakenly retweeted the video, only to delete it after the goof-up was brought to his notice.
Shaili Singh's progress as an athlete has a lot to do with her coach Robert Bobby George but it was her "strong and determined" mother, who helped her daughter take first big leap when she sent her to Bengaluru for training, much against the 'advice' of well-wishers.
A chunk of athletes, including Asian Games medallist Kiran and badminton player Krishna Prasad Garaga have been suspended by NADA
Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has undergone an elbow surgery
Panghal defended her 53kg crown at the U20 World Championships in Amman, Jordan.
Antim Panghal once again confirmed her emergence as one of the top wrestlers in the country by winning the World Championships trials in Patiala on Friday.
Shaili Singh announced her arrival on the big stage by winning a silver in the Under-20 World Athletics Championships, missing out on a historic gold by a mere 1 cm with a 6.59m effort, in the long jump final in Nairobi on Sunday.
The suspended WFI, despite being warned of legal action by the Sports Ministry for organising the 'nationals', went ahead with the tournament in Pune from January 29-31.
Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt on Thursday termed the suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India by the international body as "very distressing".
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was named the Indian contingent's flag-bearer for the Asian Games opening ceremony to be held on August 18 in Jakarta.
Bajwa, when asked whether Indian grapplers will compete under the United World Wrestling (UWW) flag at the Paris Olympics since the Wrestling Federation of India has been banned by the international body, told PTI that, since the Olympics and Asian Games are multi-discipline events, "they will compete as part of the Indian contingent".
Bhupinder Singh Bajwa will be the chairman of the panel with hockey Olympian M M Somaya and former international shuttler Manjusha Kanwar being the other two members.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju is hoping India would be abe to organise sporting events in a phased manner by September-October, saying it will help in boosting the confidence of people amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sports Ministry had resumed training camps of some Olympics disciplines in the last week of May and Rijiju said events will also gradually start in the near future.
Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla on Wednesday said star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's historic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics has helped in removing a 'huge mental block' from the country's track and field athletes.
The IOA appointed ad-hoc committee has decided to conduct the Asian Games wrestling trials behind closed doors after parents of some of the wrestlers got into a heated argument with panel members at the IG Stadium on Friday.
Meet India's top athletes at Olympics 2024.
WFI's ad-hoc panel to work with just one member for at least a week
Hima Das's journey from the rice fields of Assam is to a world champion today is inspirational.
