Top five best performers in U20 National Junior Athletics Championships

Four junior national records were rewritten in the U20 Junior Nationals.

The U20 National Junior Athletics Championships 2025 took place from June 22 to 24 at the Madan Mohan Malviya Sports Stadium in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. It was a chance to see some great athletes and see what India’s athletic future would look like. Over 1000 young athletes from 44 teams competed in 48 medal events in the 23rd edition of the championships.

As many as four junior national records were broken, and several meet records were rewritten in the three-day competition. Here we take a look at the top five performers in the U20 National Junior Athletics Championships.

Athletes who impressed in U20 National Junior Athletics Championships 2025

#5 Astik Pradhan (Men’s 400m)

Odisha’s Astik Pradhan won gold medal in men’s 400m event with a new meet record of 46.58 seconds, surpassing Bapi Hansda’s record of 46.90 seconds set last year. Meanwhile, Astik missed out on the bronze medal in men’s 200m race, finishing fourth with a timing of 21.64 seconds.

#4 Yuvaraj S (Men’s 110m Hurdles)

Tamil Nadu’s Yuvaraj S was among the best performers at the U20 National Junior Athletics Championships 2025. He clocked a timing of 13.69 seconds to break the junior national record in the men’s 110m hurdles, previously held by Tejas Shirse. The Indian hurdler’s previous junior national record of 13.74 seconds was set on 31st July 2021, which is also the meet record.

Yuvaraj S was also expected to compete in the men’s 200m event, but pulled out of the event after a record-breaking performance in the men’s 110m hurdles

#3 Vanshika Ghanghas (Women’s Pole Vault)

Vanshika Ghanghas bettered her national record in women’s Pole Vault event in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. She cleared the 3.90m mark in the event, surpassing her previous best of 3.76m set last year in Bhubaneswar. En route to breaking the national record, Vanshika broke the meet record of 3.70m too held by V Pavithra set in 2019.

The 19-year-old athlete was representing NCEO Bangalore in the 23rd edition of the U20 National Junior Federation Athletics Championships 2025.

#2 Nitin Gupta (Men’s 10000m Race Walk)

Uttar Pradesh’s Nitin Gupta was among the top performers in the recently concluded edition of the U20 National Junior Federation Athletics Championships. The young Indian athlete clocked a timing of 39:47.78 seconds to set a new junior national record, bettering Amit Khatri’s record of 40:40.97 seconds. The Bhopal-born athlete set the record on 27th January 2021.

Also Read: Nitin Gupta breaks national record in men’s 10,000m racewalk at Junior National Athletics Championships 2025

The Uttar Pradesh-born race walker also broke the meet record, which is same as Amit’s national record. The 17-year-old player also competes in the Men’s 5000m Race Walk event and has a season best of 19:24.48 seconds. He finished 22nd in the event during the Indian U18 Championships at the Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna

#1 Ujjawal Choudhary (Men’s Discus Throw)

Ujjawal Choudhary, representing JSW, breached the junior national record in the men’s Discus throw final on the second day of the tournament. He bettered his own national record of 59.34m which he set in Navi Mumbai in March 2025. The 19-year-old athlete holds the new record of 59.51m, which is the new meet record too.

The previous meet record was held by Sachin, which he set during the 2014 edition of the U20 National Junior Federation Athletics Championships in Chennai.

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