Asian Athletics: 18-year-old Pooja wins high jump gold, golden double for Gulveer
India continued its medal-winning spree at the Asian Athletics Championships. On Day 4 of the continental track and field meet, the nation secured three gold medals, bringing its total to 18 and firmly consolidating its position in second place on the medal table, behind China.
The highlight of the day came when 18-year-old Pooja set a new personal best to clinch gold in the women's high jump. It marked the first time since 2000 that an Indian athlete had topped the podium in this event at the Asian Athletics Championships.
Meanwhile, Gulveer Singh completed a remarkable double, claiming the 5000m gold with a championship record just days after winning gold in the 10,000m. Notably, it was Gulveer who had opened India's gold medal tally on Day 1 of the competition in Gumi, South Korea.
Pooja secured gold with a best effort of 1.89m, a personal milestone. She initially failed to clear 1.83m and 1.86m on her first attempts, but, aware that a height beyond 1.86m was needed for gold, she soared over 1.89m on her very first try.
Pooja then attempted to set a new national record, raising the bar to 1.92m for her final jump, but narrowly missed out. Nevertheless, the teenager revelled in her golden moment, arms flung in the air and disbelief etched across her face.
Uzbekistan's Safina Sadullaeva won silver with 1.86m while Kazakhstan's Yelizaveta won bronze.
It was Pooja's first major medal at the senior level. She won a gold medal in the Asian U18 Championships in Tashkent to grab the spotlight at the highest level.
Pooja hails from a humble background, with her father, Hansraj, working as a construction worker or mason. Despite financial constraints, Pooja's early athletic career began with gymnastics before transitioning to high jumping under the guidance of Coach Balwan Singh.
Tejaswin Shankar, who won silver in Decathlon, called Pooja's gold medal the greatest achievement by an Indian at the Asian Athletics Championships.
"The greatest performance from an Indian perspective at AAC2025 in Gumi for me is Pooja's," he said. GULVEER JOINS ELITE LIST
Gulveer shattered a decade-old meet record in men's 5000m. The national-record-holding runner clocked 13:24.77sec to edge past Thailand's Kieran Tuntivate, who finished close behind at 13:24.97sec, while Japan's Nagiya Mori took bronze in 13:25.06s.
The previous championship record belonged to Qatar's Mohamed Al-Garni, who had clocked 13:34.47 in the 2015 edition.
With this performance, Gulveer became only the second Indian in the history of the Asian Athletics Championships to win the men's 5,000m and 10,000m double after G Lakshmanan in 2017.
He also joined an elite group of Indian athletes to have won gold in the men's 5000m event of the continental meet -- the other three being Gopal Saini (1981), Bahadur Prasad (1993), and G Lakshmanan (2017). (With PTI Inputs)
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