National Jr Athletics: Abinaya Rajarajan, Neil Samraj Improve 100m Records

National Jr Athletics: Abinaya Rajarajan, Neil Samraj improve 100m records (Abinaya Rajarajan, Neil Samraj improve 100m records in the 41st National Junior Athletics Championships 2026, which got underway at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Friday. Photo credit: AFI )

National Junior Athletics Championships:  Tamil Nadu’s promising sprinter Abinaya Rajarajan rocketed off the blocks to set a national record in the Under-20 women’s 100m on the opening day of the 41st National Junior Athletics Championships 2026, which got underway at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Friday.

It was a double delight for Tamil Nadu’s team as Neil Samraj R. also improved his own national 100m record in the U18 men's group.

Abinaya stamped her authority in the 100m dash, clocking 11.49 seconds to win gold, bettering her own national record of 11.54 seconds set last year in Kochi.

Neil’s gold-winning time was 10.45 seconds. It was better than his own national U18 100m record of 10.46 seconds set earlier this year in Ludhiana. Neil also improved the meet record of 10.63 seconds set by Anshu Rajak.

Punjab’s international thrower Amanat Kamboj dominated the women's U20 discus throw. On her way to gold, she recorded a throw of 51.44m. The previous record of 49.85m was set by Kamalpreet Kaur.

Supriya Attri (Uttar Pradesh) was a close second with a throw of 51.40m.

Results:

Men's U20 5,000m: Abhinandan Suryavan (Maharashtra) 14:32.08, Aakash (Uttar Pradesh) 14:32.14, Rohit Choudhary (Rajasthan) 14:32.35.

Men's U20 Pole vault: Arya Dev (Uttar Pradesh) 4.60m, Ajeet Kumar (Rajasthan) 4.60m, RR Vishal (Tamil Nadu) 4.40m.

Men's U18 100m: Neil Samraj R (Tamil Nadu) 10.45 seconds (national record), J Nived Krishna (Kerala) 10.67 seconds, Abhishek Naruka (Rajasthan) 10.78 seconds.

Women's U20 100m: Abinaya Rajarajan (Tamil Nadu) 11.49 seconds (national record), Kajal Vaja (Gujarat) 11.61 seconds, Nancy (Haryana) 11.83 seconds.

Women's U20 5,000m: Tamanna (Karnataka) 17:27.85, Roshini Kalura (Uttarakhand) 17:35.71, Archita Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) 17:36.25.

Women's U20 Discus throw: Amanat Kamboj (Punjab) 51.44m (meet record), Supriya Attri (Uttar Pradesh) 51.40m, Anushree KS (Tamil Nadu) 46.82m.

Women's: U18 100m: T Mrithika (Tamil Nadu) 11.71 seconds, Suchithra S (Karnataka) 11.98 seconds, Saawari Kulkarni (Maharashtra) 12.09 seconds.

Girls' U14 Triathlon B: Pinki Pal (West Bengal) 2894 points, Devanshi Amit Kale (Maharashtra) 2837 points, Himadari Bhardwaj (Uttar Pradesh) 2824 points.

Boys' U14 Triathlon B: Sumit Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 3256 points, Sadhon Ghosh (West Bengal) 3192 points, Pradeeh Varsa (Telangana) 2784 points.

Girls' U14 Triathlon B: Pinki Pal (West Bengal) 2894 points, Devanshi Amit Kale (Maharashtra) 2837 points, Himadari Bhardwaj (Uttar Pradesh) 2824 points.

Article Source: IANS