Patna, May 12 (NationPress) Jithin Arjunan from Tamil Nadu spearheaded a group of ambitious boys who shattered five Games Records on the inaugural day of athletics events at the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) 2025 in Bihar, hosted at the Patliputra Sports Complex on Monday.

In an inspiring display, Alka Singh from Bihar secured a heartfelt gold for her state in the girls' Shot Put, achieving a remarkable distance of 14.73m on her second attempt, adding to the glory of the record-setting boys.

Jithin Arjunan eclipsed the existing boys' Long Jump record thrice and also claimed a silver in the 110m Hurdles, truly standing out as the star of the day, closely followed by Hansraj Dhayal, a discus thrower from Rajasthan. With a throw surpassing 63.18m, Dhayal astonished his teammate Vishal Kumar and Haryana’s Nischay, who had recently earned a bronze at the Asian Youth Championships.

Dhayal's second throw of 58.39m secured him the gold, but his outstanding performances included breaking the Games record with throws of 61.77m and 63.18m on his fourth and fifth attempts, respectively. Despite their efforts, Vishal Kumar and Nischay couldn't surpass the leader.

Having triumphed at the National Youth Championships in Bilaspur in June 2024, Jithin Arjunan dominated the Long Jump event with an opening jump of 7.60m, surpassing the previous meet record of 7.42m set by Aryan Choudhary in 2022. He then qualified for the finals of the 110m Hurdles before returning to the Long Jump pit.

Saif Farooq Chafekar achieved a new meet record of 13.48 seconds in the boys' 110m hurdles. The athlete from Navi Mumbai focused intensely on winning gold at the Khelo India Youth Games, and his hard work certainly paid off as he outperformed his rival Jithin Arjunan.

This victory followed the first gold medal in track events, won by Shourya Ambura. As an Asian Youth Championships bronze medalist with a sub-14-second record, Shourya Ambure marked a triumphant return to the track, finishing with a time of 14.55 seconds at the National Youth Championships.

The athlete from Thane faced no real competition as she clinched the expected gold for Maharashtra in 14.11 seconds, pulling ahead more than five meters in front of Sonali Das from West Bengal, who required photo-finish judges to determine her medal position.

Later that evening, Rohit Shivaji Binnar from Maharashtra made his mark by breaking records in the boys' 3000m event. It was fitting that the day ended with a new meet record in this distance event after Kadir Khan from Uttar Pradesh had set the stage with a new record of 47.67 seconds in the 400m heats.

A bronze medalist from the National Youth Championships held here in March, Kabir Khan improved upon the previous record of 48.34 seconds held by CR Abdul Razak since 2019. Sayed Sabeer also clocked in under 48 seconds in a tougher subsequent heat, indicating an intense final ahead.