Reliance Foundation athletes shine in Asian Athletics Championships 2025
Mumbai, May 31 (UNI) In a historic run by Indian athletes at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025 held in Gumi, Republic of Korea, athletes supported by Reliance Foundation delivered their best-ever performance, claiming a total of five medals — three golds, one silver, and one bronze — contributing significantly to India's second-place finish overall with 24 medals – the country's best-ever showing at the Championships.
Hailing the performance of all the participating athletes, James Hillier, Athletics Director, Reliance Foundation said, "We had 10 of our athletes participating in the competition and Gulveer really stole the show with his double gold (5000m & 10000m). Jyothi also did amazingly well in the hurdles in extremely difficult conditions, kept her composure and defended her title."
"In the women's long jump, Ancy Sojan kept her cool by being a brilliant competitor and winning the silver medal with a mature performance. Animesh's bronze medal reflects the investment we have made in sprints and this is the third time this year that he broke the national record, so it was a great performance from him,' Hillier said.
'Overall, it was a massive effort from all our athletes out there and it's heartening to see us win medals across all centres in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Odisha in sprint, hurdles, jumps and long distance,' he added.
Leading the charge was long-distance runner Gulveer Singh, who scripted history by clinching
double gold in the 5000m and 10000m, including a new championship record of 13:24.77s in the 5000m. Gulveer became the first Indian athlete since 2017 to win both events in the same edition
of the Championships.
Meanwhile, Jyothi Yarraji, India's ace hurdler and reigning Asian champion, defended her title in
the 100m hurdles with a season-best time of 12.96s, breaking the championship record under challenging weather conditions.
Ecstatic after his achievement in the Championships, Odisha Reliance Foundation High Performance Centre athlete Animesh Kujur quoted, 'I'm really proud of winning the bronze medal in my first ever major international championship. At the start line, I was in a good mental space and felt confident in my abilities. I kept composure throughout the final race and was pleased to see myself break the national record once again. I think this is just a start and I want to reach greater heights in the near future.'
With this five-medal haul, Reliance Foundation athletes not only broke records (two championship records and one national record) but also underlined the Foundation's commitment to nurturing Olympic-level talent through access to world-class facilities across India. The performance in Gumi stands as a proud milestone in the Foundation's journey of empowering young Indian athletes to excel on the global stage.
UNI BM
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