At the World U20 Athletics Championships held here on Friday, Aarti opened India’s medal account with a bronze in the women’s 10000m race walk, setting a new national U20 record in the process.
On the penultimate day of contests, 17-year-old Aarti finished third in the demanding event with a time of 44 minutes, 39.39 seconds.
When Aarti won gold in the National Federation Cup U20 Championships in Lucknow in March, she beat her own previous national record of 47:21.04.
After an exciting finish, Zhuoma Baima of China broke all previous records to win the gold.
Baima stunned her rivals with a stunning timing of 43:26.60, setting a new World U20 record.
India was hoping for a medal as the championships were coming to an end, thus Aarti’s bronze came as a huge relief.
Rujula Amol Bhonsle, Neole Anna Cornelio, Abinaya Rajarajan, and Sudheeksha Vadluri, an Indian foursome, also broke the national U20 record in the women’s 4x400m relay heats, clocking 45.31 seconds. However, they finished ninth overall and narrowly missed the final.
Pooja Singh qualified for the final by finishing eighth in the qualification round on Thursday night, shattering the national U20 women’s high jump record.
The 17-year-old, who is from the Haryana area of Fatehbad, cleared a height of 1.83 meters to place second in group B of the qualification round and ninth overall, earning a spot in the Saturday final.
Pooja won a silver medal at the Asian U20 Championships, shattering her own national U20 record of 1.82 meters, which she had established in Korea the previous year.
