India’s campaign at the Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, got off to a strong start with four medals, including a gold on Thursday. Aarti launched India’s campaign as she took home the bronze in the morning session’s girls’ 5 km race walk competition.
In the afternoon session’s 1500m track race, the Indian participants took home two medals: one gold and one silver. India also placed third in the girls’ long jump competition. In the 1500-meter boys race, the Indian middle distance runners finished 1-2. Priyanshu, who outran fellow countryman Rahul in the final straight, won the day’s award.
In the 1500-meter event, Rahul and Priyanshu both prevailed. The Indian duo pushed hard as the race went on, leading to a string of 14 participants. Rahul commented after taking home silver in the 1500m, “I tried hard to catch up to Priyanshu but he was better on the given day and won gold.” Rahul finished second to Priyanshu with a timing of 3 minutes and 59.43 seconds, earning him the gold.