Athletics: Four track and field records improved at National Junior Meet

Chennai: Telangana’s Lodenge Ramu, Uttar Pradesh’s Tanu Chaudhary and Chuki Birda of Rajasthan set new marks as four records were erased in track and field events on the second day of the 41st National Junior Athletics Championships 2026 here at Chennai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday.

Telangana’s Lodenge Ramu erased a decade-old national record in the men's U18 400m. His gold-winning time of 46.80 seconds was better than Chandan Bauri’s previous record of 46.99 seconds set in 2015. The meet record of 47.48 seconds was set last year by Sayed Sabeer.

Uttar Pradesh’s promising 400m runner Tanu Chaudhary also entered her name in the record books in the women’s U18. She won the gold medal with a time of 53.40 seconds to better the previous meet record of 53.85 seconds clocked by Jisna Mathew in 2015.

Chuki Birda of Rajasthan won the gold medal in the women’s U20 pole vault with a height of 3.91m to better Vanshika Ghanghas’s national record of 3.90m set last year. The previous meet record of 3.80m was set by Karthika V.

The boys U16 shot put national record was also improved by Tamil Nadu’s Tharanesh C. His gold-winning throw of 17.86m was better than Nitesh Kumar’s previous mark of 17.42m set in 2024.

Results (Day 2):

Men's U20 400m: Vaibhav Bhardwaj (Uttar Pradesh) 47.45 seconds, Raj Chauhan (Maharashtra) 47.64 seconds, Thanish Gaddam (Maharashtra) 47.68 seconds.

Men's U20 Long jump: Jithin RC (Tamil Nadu) 7.64m, Ayush Yadav (Delhi) 7.51m, Dhanush Raj M (Kerala) 7.50m.

Men's U20 Discus throw: Devansh Jagga (Punjab) 55.35m, Yashraj Jain (Madhya Pradesh) 54.13m, Usman Ali Khan (Madhya Pradesh) 53.74m.

Men's U20 Hammer throw: Kartik (Uttar Pradesh) 67.54m, Aman (Uttar Pradesh) 67.19m, Mohd Abdulla (Uttar Pradesh) 64.96m.

Men's U20 Decathlon: Jakhar Rahul (Gujarat) 7125 points, Abhay Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 6697 points, Aryan Prakash (Madhya Pradesh) 6288 points.

Men's U18 400m: Lodenge Ramu (Telangana) 46.80 seconds (national record), Manas Shinde (Maharashtra) 47.24 seconds, Aditya (Haryana) 47.79 seconds.

Men's U18 Javelin throw: Krishan Chandra (Madhya Pradesh) 74.83m, Pushpak Nelwade (Karnataka) 73.43m, Salauddin (Madhya Pradesh).

Boys' U16 Shot put: Tharanesh C (Tamil Nadu) 17.86m (national meet), Varadraaj Jagtap (Maharashtra) 17.10m, Abhishek Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 17.08m.

Boys' U14 Triathlon A: Saurav Bind (Uttar Pradesh) 2195 points, Rajveer Gurjar (Rajasthan) 2179 points, Barno Das (West Bengal) 2137 points.

Women's U20 400m: Tahura Khatun (West Bengal) 54.64 seconds, Vanshika Rathi (Uttar Pradesh) 55.08 seconds, Maya (Punjab) 55.11 seconds.

Women's U20 Pole vault: Chuki Birda (Rajasthan) 3.91m (national record), Jeena Basil (Kerala) 3.80m, Tanishka Dayma (Madhya Pradesh) 3.50m.

Women's U18 400m: Tanu Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 53.40 seconds (meet record), Sehnoor Bawa (Punjab) 54.27 seconds, Sahaya Jemima (Tamil Nadu) 55.66 seconds.

Girls' U16 Shot put: Tejaswini G Rao (Karnataka) 13.48m, Hanpreet (Haryana) 13.10m, Jayani Patil (Maharashtra) 12.33m.

Girls' U14 Triathlon A: Meera Bobal (Delhi) 2617 points, Yazhini AM (Tamil Nadu) 2503 points, Tamanna (Punjab) 2448 points.

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