Inter State National Championships: Parul Chaudhary clinches gold in women's 3000m steeplechase, secures Asian Games qualification

She also set the meet record with a 9:34.23 seconds finish.

With the conclusion of Day 2 at the 62nd National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships, it was a moment of cheer for Inspire Institute of Sport’s Parul Chaudhary as she secured Gold in her pet event - 3000m Steeplechase, at the ongoing National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships. To top her performance, she secured the top spot while setting a meet record as she completed the course in 9:34.23 beating Sudha Singh’s 9:39.59 set in 2018 at Guwahati.

The 28-year-old Meerut athlete also secured qualification for the upcoming Asian Games later this year. While talking about her qualification for the Asiad, she said, “It feels amazing to qualify for the Asian games. I had put in a lot of practice for this competition. Especially the meet in Los Angeles last month helped me prepare for this meet.”

Parul Chaudhary ran her personal best in the 3000m Steeplechase category last month during the Los Angeles Grand Prix held at the Drake Stadium when she completed the course at 9:29.51. While her performance at the 62nd National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships was not her best due to the extremely hot and humid conditions, she was way ahead of the chasing pack.

“I was hoping to qualify for the world championship but unfortunately due to the extremely humid and hot conditions here, I could not hit my target despite my best efforts. I ran the first 2 kilometres at the same steady pace but at the end, I went a little, over my target time due to the heat.

"It still feels great to qualify for the Asian Games. Now I am eagerly waiting for the next meet so that I can put my best foot forward in that competition and hopefully will be able to hit my target time,” Parul Chaudhary concluded by speaking about her performance at the national meet.