Eugene: Basant won silver in the men’s high jump at the U20 Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, equalling his personal best jump of 2.21m. The 19-year-old from Ganganagar, Rajasthan, became the first Indian to win a high jump medal at any world-level event.
Basant first sailed over 2.06m, followed by 2.12m and 2.17m; then a huge 2.21m was enough to place him firmly on the podium. The top three men shared that 2.21m height, but Basant’s clutch clearances held strong on countback to secure silver. Alegeria’s Younes Ayachi took the gold while Britain’s Otis Poole pocketed the bronze.
Meanwhile, Shahnavaz Khan bagged the bronze in the men’s long jump with a best jump of 7.84m to win the first world-level medal by an Indian men’s long jumper.
Trailing early, Shahnavaz dug deep with a monster 7.84m in round 3, then backed it up with 7.83m in round 5 to hold his nerve and his podium place against the world’s best.
Italy’s Inzoli, with a best effort of 7.97m, clinched the gold, while the silver went to Australia’s McGroder (7.96m).
This is now India’s third medal of the ongoing championship, following Ashish Yadav’s silver in the javelin throw on Friday.
“With this, the Indians matched their best-ever performance at the U20 World Athletics Championships in 2021 with a total of three medals, and can register their best-ever medal haul with one day to go before the event concludes.”
Earlier, India’s women’s 4×400m quartet of Bhoomika Nehate, Tahura Khatun, Tanu Chaudhary and Thiya Arumugam made it to the final after finising in top three of their heat, clocking 3:39.53, behind USA (3:32.66) and Australia (3:33.68 season’s best).
Bhoomika set the tone with a fearless lead-off (55.81). Tahura kept India in the fight (54.54) while Tanu unleashed a blistering third leg to power the charge (53.87) and Thiya Arumugam brought it home under pressure (55.31).
On Saturday, Ashish opened India’s medal account, winning a silver medal in javelin throw event. The 19-year-old Ashish Yadav from Uttar Pradesh became the first thrower to bag a U20 World medal since Neeraj Chopra did it in 2016.
(IANS)
