Santhosh Kumar secured the gold medal in the men’s 400m hurdles during the inaugural day of the 2024 National Federation Senior Athletics Competition held at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on Sunday.
An Asian Championships bronze medallist, Santhosh Kumar claimed victory in the final with a season’s best time of 50.04 seconds. The national record for India in this event stands at 48.80 seconds, established by Ayyasamy Dharun at the 2019 Federation Cup in Patiala.
Nikhil Bhardwaj earned the silver medal with a time of 50.92 seconds, while Dhaval Mahesh Utekar took the bronze with a time of 51.13 seconds. Meanwhile, javelin thrower Rashmi K achieved a personal best on the competition’s opening day, reaching a distance of 54.75 meters in the women’s javelin throw final, surpassing her previous best of 53.95 meters.
Rashmi K was the sole athlete to surpass the 50-meter mark in the women’s javelin throw event that day. Karishma S Sanil claimed the silver medal with a throw of 49.91 meters, and Rupinder Kaur Sohal secured the bronze with a distance of 47.66 meters.
In the women’s 400m hurdles, Veerpal Kaur clocked 59.43 seconds to clinch the gold medal, with Salini Kris settling for silver at 1:00.73, and Ramandeep Kaur finishing third with a time of 1:01.29.
Earlier in the day, Asian U20 Championships bronze medallist Dev Meena won the gold in the men’s pole vault, clearing 5.10 meters. Shekhar Kumar Pandey secured silver with a clearance of 4.90 meters, while Hariharan R claimed bronze with 4.80 meters.
In the women’s triple jump, Mallala Anusha achieved a personal best of 13.53 meters, earning her the gold medal. Sheena NV of Kerala took silver with a jump of 13.32 meters, and Gayathry Sivakumar clinched bronze with 13.08 meters.
Lili Das secured the gold medal in the women’s 5000m with a time of 16:31.05. Poonam Dinkar finished second at 17:02.51, while Kiran claimed bronze in 17:06.64.
