Top five best performers at Indian Open U23 Athletics Championships 2024

Published at :October 1, 2024 at 8:57 PM

Modified at :October 1, 2024 at 8:57 PM

(Courtesy : Reliance Foundation)

Animesh Kujur and Devyaniba Zala were named the best male and female athletes respectively.

Several meet records were shattered in the 4th Indian Open U23 Athletics Championships 2024 held in Bihar, Patna that concluded on Monday. There were several close finishes, including a photo finish in the men’s 400m hurdles with the winner and silver medalists separated by just 300 milliseconds.

Some prominent names starred while new faces emerged from the competition. Animesh Kujur of Odisha won the Best Male Athlete award while Devyaniba Zala was named the Best Female Athlete. Moumita Mondal and Animesh Kujur were among athletes who clinched two medals at the 4th Indian Open U23 Athletics Championships 2024. Lets take a look at the top five best performers in the competition.

Top five best performers from Indian Open U23 Athletics Championships 2024

Animesh Kujur (Men’s 100m and 200m)

Animesh Kujur lived up to expectations and won the double sprinting gold in men’s 100m and 200m, also breaking the meet record in both disciplines. In the 100m event, Animesh clocked 10.61s to top his heat before shattering the meet record with a timing of 10.38s in the semifinals. In the finals, Animesh clocked 10.40s to win the gold.

In 200m, he started by winning his heat with a timing of 21.84s and topped the semis by clocking 21.04 seconds. Then in the finals, he rewrote the meet record with a timing of 20.65s to win the title. This is the seventh time he has clocked sub-par 21 seconds this year.

Moumita Mondal (Women’s 100m hurdles and long jump)

Originally a heptathlete Moumita Mondal participated in two different events. Usually, it’s rare to see an athlete participating in two different disciplines (track and field). Moumita won gold medals in women’s 100m hurdles and long jump.

In the 100m hurdles, she clinched the title with a timing of 13.71 — just 0.5 seconds shy of her personal best and the meet record, that she owns. Then she won her second gold medal of the competition in the women’s long jump with a distance of 6.27m in her fourth attempt.

She was the only athlete to jump above 6m in the field. Her first jump was 6.15m followed by two fouls. Her last two jumps were 6.07m and 6.25m. She was also consistent with her jumps.

Dev Meena (Men’s pole vault)

The 19-year-old sensation Dev Meena is a rising star in Indian pole vault. Dev shattered a new meet record with a personal best jump of 5.20m and was also close to breaking the national record of 6.31m but fell short.

Meena was a sprinter initially but switched to pole vault as he was more interested in the jump events. His brother Jay Meena is a soft tennis athlete and has represented the country in the Asian Games. He also became the first-ever pole vaulter from India to qualify for the World U20 Championships.

Jyoti (Women’s javelin throw)

The athlete from Haryana registered her best throw of 58.49m to win the gold in the women’s Javelin Throw. She also shattered the meet record and improved it by almost 6m. The 22-year-old athlete started the event with a throw of 54.92m to break the meet record. She then bettered the mark three more times in her subsequent throws (55.83m, 57.41m, 54.27m, 58.49m and 55.40m).

Jyoti showed consistency in her throws and will aim to shine in the international stage. She came into the limelight when she finished second in the 63rd National Open Athletics Championships in Bengaluru, with a best throw of 58.10m.

Tushar Kanti Manna (Men’s 400m)

The 22-year-old athlete from Delhi shattered the meet record with a timing of 45.92s to win gold in men’s 400m. Tushar won his heat quite comfortably with a timing of 47.40s and then bettered the previous meet record (which was already broken in the semifinal heat 1 by Rince Joseph) by clocking 46.57s in the semis.

In the final, he dipped under 46 seconds to shatter the meet record by clocking 45.92s. This was the second time that Tushar dipped under 46s this season. He will aim to break the national record of 45.21s in future.

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