Ekta pradeep dey

National Junior U20 Federation Athletics: Madhya Pradesh’s Ekta Pradeep Dey improved the national women’s 3,000m steeplechase record on the concluding day of the 22nd National Junior U20 Federation Athletics Championships at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre here on Sunday.

Ekta ran a well-judged pace to win a gold medal in the gruelling 3,000m steeplechase. She clocked 10:10.08 seconds on her way to winning gold. Her Sunday’s performance in Lucknow was better than the Asian U20 qualification time of 11:30.00 and she also improved the national record of 10:29.50 seconds. The day after missing the Asian U20 qualification time in the 100m dash, sprinter Dondapati Mrutyam Jaya from Odisha ran a scorching 21.59 secs to win 200m gold in the men’s group and better the Asian U20 qualification time of 21.60 seconds.

Dondapati Mrutyam was the only 200m sprinter to have breached the Asian qualification time. On Saturday he won gold in 100m with a time of 10.67 seconds, while the Asian qualification time was 10.50 secs. Away from the track, Uttar Pradesh javelin throwers hogged the limelight. Dipanshu Sharma claimed gold with a throw of 68.89m, while Rohan Yadav clinched silver with a throw of 68.29m. Uttarakhand’s Ajeet Kumar Yadav took home bronze with a throw of 66.94m. All three throwers bettered the AQM of 65.49m.