National Indoor Athletics Championships | Priyanka, Krishik grab gold

Bengaluru: Karnataka's track athletes Priyanka C and Krishik Manjunatha won gold medals in the women's 3000m and men's 60m hurdles respectively on the opening day of the inaugural National Indoor Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

Kalyan JR grabbed the third Karnataka medal on the day as he won the silver behind favourite Mohammed Afsal in the men's 800m final.

Priyanka, meanwhile, became the first woman athlete to win gold at the Indoor Nationals. The 22-year-old runner, who is from Mandya district and trains in Bengaluru under coach OP Jaisha, clocked 9:42.05 to finish ahead of Gujarat's Kajal Kandwade (9:44.01) and Odisha's Sumita Tigga (10:22.30). 

"It was a tricky race for me as I was competing in an indoor track for the first time. I wasn't expecting the track to be sloppy and doing 15 laps on it was new too but it was a great experience," Priyanka told DH.

Krishik, on the other hand, won a close 60m hurdles final in a photo finish with Reliance's Rathish Pandidurai as the 22-year-old hurdler clocked 7.71 seconds in the absence of national record holder Tejas Shirse (7.64).

In the men's 800m final, Air Force's Afsal set the fastest-ever timing in the indoor event at 1:47.86 while Kalyan (1:53.98) ensured the silver medal by finishing ahead of West Bengal's Sayan Karmakar in just a three-man final. 

Meanwhile, India's leading women's pole vaulter Baranica Elangoan surpassed the overall national record, touching a height of 4.22m. The 29-year-old Tamil Nadu athlete jumped above the outdoor national record of 4.21m, which is currently held by Rosy Meena Paulraj since 2022.

Results: Men: 60m hurdles: Krishik M (Kar) 7.71s, 1; Rathish Pandidurai (Rel) 7.84, 2; Muhammed Lazan (JSW) 8.00, 3. 800m: Mohammed Afsal (IAF) 1:47.86, 1; Kalyan JR (Kar) 1:53.98, 2; Sayan Karmakar (WB) 1:56.98, 3. 3000m: Shivaji Parashuram (Rel) 8:09.88, 1; Vinod Singh (MP) 8:16.93, 2; Rahul Kumar Verma (Chh) 8:18.21. Shot put: Ravi Kumar (BSF) 17.17m, 1; Adhish Ghildiyal (Utr) 16.92, 2; Balaji (TN) 16.74, 3. Long jump: Sarun Payasingh (Odi) 7.80, 1; Praveen Chithravel (JSW) 7.78, 2; David P (Rai) 7.69, 3.

U-20: 800m: Chirag Chaudhary (MP) 1:54.14, 1; Rajdip Pal (WB) 2:02.34, 2. Shot put: Ommkar Nanda (Odi) 17.77m, 1; Sai Kiran (NCOP) 17.00, 2; Harshit Gahlot (JSW) 16.98, 3.

Women: 800m: Preeti Yadav (MP) 2:11.83, 1; Laxmipriya Kisan (Odi) 2:13.20, 2. 3000m: Priyanka C (Kar) 9:42.05, 1; Kajal Kandwade (Guj) 9:44.01, 2; Susmita Tigga (Odi) 10:22.30, 3. 

Long jump: Anamika KA (JSW) 6.05, 1; Manisha Merel (Odi) 6.04, 2; Sherin A (JSW) 5.92, 3.

Pole vault: Baranica Elangovan (TN) 4.22, 1; Blessy Kunjumon (Ker) 3.95m, 2; Mariya Jaison (Ker) 3.80m, 3.

U-20: Shot put: Dona Maria Dony (Ker) 13.35m, 1; Khusboo (Har) 12.03, 2; Akshaya GR (TN) 11.89, 3.