National records tumbled on the opening day of the Inter-State Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar as Anushka Yadav and Dev Meena produced standout performances to secure qualification for the 2026 Asian Games.
The biggest headline came in the women’s hammer throw, where 18-year-old Anushka Yadav rewrote the national record books with a throw of 67.02m. The youngster first surpassed the Asian Games qualifying standard of 61.72m with an opening effort of 62.07m before improving to 65.64m and finally unleashing a record-breaking throw on her last attempt.
Her mark eclipsed the previous national record of 65.25m set by Sarita Singh nine years ago, making Anushka the new national record holder and one of India’s brightest prospects in the event.
In the men’s pole vault, Dev Meena added another chapter to his growing rivalry with fellow national record holder Kuldeep Kumar. Meena cleared 5.46m on his third attempt to better his own national record of 5.45m while also surpassing the Asian Games qualification mark.
Multiple athletes secure Asian Games standards
The day also witnessed several other notable performances.
In the women’s triple jump, I. Isha Elango produced a personal best leap of 13.89m, the third-best mark by an Indian woman in history and the fourth-best jump in Asia this year.
Earlier, she had opened with a 13.67m effort, which was enough to breach the Asian Games qualifying standard of 13.34m and move into the list of India’s all-time best triple jumpers.
National record holder Jyothi Yarraji made a successful return to competition after a lengthy injury layoff, clocking 13.14s to win her heat of the women’s 100m hurdles. The time was India’s fastest this season and comfortably inside the Asian Games qualification mark.
Nandhini Kongan also impressed in the event, equalling her personal best of 13.24s to qualify for the final.
The championships began with Gulveer Singh claiming the men’s 5000m title, but it was the record-breaking performances of Anushka and Dev that stole the spotlight on a memorable opening day in Bhubaneswar.
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