New Delhi [India], June 9 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi heaped praise on the Indian athletes for their exceptional performance in the 20th Asian U20 Athletics Championships on Friday.
The Indian athletes bagged 19 medals at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships 2023 in Yecheon, Republic of Korea from June 4 to 7.
Taking to Twitter PM Modi wrote, “Proud of our athletes! They performed exceptionally well at the 20th Asian U20 Athletics Championships! With 19 medals, including 6 golds, India soared to 3rd place among 45 nations. We celebrate the triumph of our athletes and wish them the very best for their future endeavours.”
https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1667162173590880256?s=20
Japan topped the medals table with a total of 23 medals — 14 golds, 4 silvers and 5 bronze. The second place was sealed by China with a total of 19 medals — 11 golds, five silvers and three bronze.
Even though India matched China’s total of 19 medals, they ended up as third in the tally as they won less number of gold medals. India bagged six golds, seven silvers and six bronze medals.
For India, the 16-year-old Rezoana Mallick Heena was the most successful athlete in the competition. She won an individual gold medal in the women’s 400m race, clocking her second-best timing of 53.32s. It was India’s first gold medal in this edition.
Along with this, she also bagged a team gold in the women’s 4x400m relay race with Anushka Dattaray Kumbhar, Riya Nitin Patil and Kanista Teena. She was also a part of the Indian mixed 4x400m relay team that clinched bronze.
India’s three of the six gold medals came from the men’s events. Siddharth Choudhary, logged 19.52m in men’s shot put, while discus thrower Bharatpreet Singh registered 55.66m to clinch the gold medal. On the other hand, Sunil Kumar won the men’s decathlon event with his personal best of 7003 points. (ANI)