Sawan Barwal of Army Claims Gold in Men's 10,000m, Sets New Meet Record
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Synopsis
Sawan Barwal of the Army secured gold in the men's 10,000m at the National Federation Senior Athletics Championship, setting a new meet record and qualifying for the Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea.
Key Takeaways
- Sawan Barwal claimed gold in the men’s 10,000m.
- He set a new meet record of 28:57.13.
- Qualified for the Asian Athletics Championships.
- Abhishek Pal won silver, Kiran Matre took bronze.
- Sanjivani Jadhav won gold in women’s 10,000m.
Kochi, April 21 (NationPress) Army’s distance runner Sawan Barwal fulfilled his prediction of a podium finish by clinching the gold medal in the men’s 10,000m event, where he also set a new meet record. This remarkable performance has earned him a spot in the Asian Athletics Championships scheduled from May 27-31 in Gumi, South Korea.
Barwal completed the men’s 10,000m race in 28:57.13, breaking the previous meet record of 28:57.90 established in 2007 by Surendra Singh in Kolkata. His time comfortably surpassed the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) qualification benchmark of 29:33.26. “I’m thrilled to have won a gold medal with a new meet record and to have secured my place for the continental championship in May,” Barwal stated during the post-race interview.
Focusing on his qualification for the Asian Championships, the army runner accelerated with five laps remaining. “I felt I could have performed better, but there was no significant challenge,” he remarked.
Abhishek Pal, representing Railway Sports, earned the silver medal with a time of 29:14.86, also surpassing the Asian Athletics qualification time. Kiran Matre from the Army secured the bronze medal with a time of 29:47.62.
The gold medal in the women’s 10,000m was awarded to Maharashtra’s international athlete Sanjivani Jadhav, who finished with a time of 33:44.43, falling short of the Asian qualification time of 33:24.79.
Seema from Himachal Pradesh claimed silver with a time of 34:55.92, while Beby from Uttar Pradesh took home the bronze with 34:59.67.
In the afternoon session, attention turned to the men’s javelin throw, where the top seven throwers surpassed the Asian qualification mark of 75.36m. The highlight was Uttar Pradesh’s talented thrower Sachin Yadav, whose gold-winning throw measured 83.86m on his fifth attempt.
His other throws recorded were 78.04m, 80.22m, 75.97m, 79.69m, and 83.67m.
The men’s 100m race was filled with intense excitement. Punjab’s Gurindervir Singh from Reliance finished last, while Pranav Pramod of Railway Sports became the fastest male runner of the meet, clocking 10.27 seconds.
The fastest female runner was Nithya Gandhe from Telangana, finishing in 11.50 seconds. In the semifinals of the men’s and women’s 400m event, Rupal from Uttar Pradesh was the quickest in the women’s 400m with a time of 52.65 seconds, and Kerala's Manu TS led the men’s 400m with a time of 46.52 seconds.
