Athletics

Athletics is India's largest discipline at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, with the AFI selecting 77 athletes, including 34 men and 43 women

Rising Indian javelin thrower Rohit Yadav aspires to follow in the lofty footsteps of iconic Neeraj Chopra, who has pulled out of the upcoming Asian Games due to an injury, in the continental event beginning on September 19. Rohit, 25, from Dabhiya village in Uttar Pradesh, had a dismal Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this year with a throw of just 81.56m but he recorded his personal best on August 22 with a throw of 87.68m at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meet in Bhubaneswar. And he is confident of bettering that feat in Aichi-Nagoya during the Asian Games. "I am not taking any pressure although I know people are expecting a lot from me. It is not good that Neeraj is not there but we have to accept that. Neeraj's medal was 100 per cent sure but I will try fill up his place. I know I won't be able to take his place but will try and get a podium place. I will try to give my best throw to be among medal winners," Rohit told PTI in an interview "Neeraj's place is differen

Almost all the Asian Games-bound track and field athletes, including fit-again star steeplechaser Avinash Sable, will be in action in the Indian Athletics Series Final here on Thursday as part of their tune-up to the mega event in Japan later this month. The invitational one-day event at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is the culmination of the 15-leg Indian Athletics Series, which was introduced by Athletics Federation of India (AFI) this April. The national federation has made the finale lucrative by introducing a total prize fund of Rs 65 lakh. The winner in each of the 30 events will pocket Rs one lakh. The second place finishers will receive Rs 50,000 each while the athletes who ended at third, fourth, fifth and sixth will get Rs 25,000, Rs 20,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively. Except for a few athletes such as long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, high jumper Sarvesh Kushare and triple jumper Praveen Chithravel, all the athletes from the 77-member Indian team for the Asian Gam

The two-time Olympic medallist finished nine centimetres behind Rumesh Pathirage and moved into the top-six qualification zone for the season-ending Final

The Indian athletics team will undergo a short acclimatisation camp at the University of Tsukuba near Tokyo ahead of the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya in Japan in September-October. In June this year, the Sports Authority of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Tsukuba to facilitate participation of Indian athletes, coaches, and sports scientists in specialised training and exchange programmes in Japan. Tsukuba is around 80kms from Tokyo and 420km from Nagoya where the track and field events will be held from September 23 to 29. The national team will leave for Japan after competing in the invitational Indian Athletics Final Series in New Delhi on September 10. "The team will leave for Japan either on September 12 or 13 and will train at the University of Tsukuba to acclimatise to the conditions," a top Athletics Federation of India (AFI) official told PTI. Meanwhile, the Asian Games-bound Indian athletes, who were training at Jablonec in Czech ...

National senior record holder high jumper Pooja Singh failed to live up to the expectations, finishing seventh in the final, as India ended their World Athletics U20 Championships campaign with three medals here. The 19-year-old Pooja could only clear 1.84m, way below her national senior record height of 1.93m. She failed to sail over 1.87m in three attempts. Izobelle Louison-Roe of Australia won the gold with 1.92m, while Lilianna Batori (1.90m) of Hungary and Aitana Alonso (1.90m) of Spain bagged the silver and bronze respectively. In May, Pooja had won gold in the Asian U20 Athletics Championships with the senior national record height of 1.93m. She is also the reigning gold medallist at the Senior Asian Athletics Athletics Championships. The Indian women's 4x400m relay team, meanwhile, finished ninth and last in the final, clocking 3 minute 45.28 seconds. The team comprised Bhoomika Nehate, Tahura Khatun, Tanu Chaudhary and Thiya Arumugam. USA won the gold with a time of 3:29.

Basant Kumar Meghwal became the first Indian to win a high jump medal at the World Athletics U20 Championships, while Shahnavaz Khan added a bronze in the long jump as India secured two medals on a memorable day here. The 19-year-old Meghwal from Anupgarh, a border town in Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar district, cleared a personal-best of 2.21m to win silver in the men's high jump. Representing the Indian Navy, he produced the landmark performance on the fourth and penultimate day of the championships, here on Saturday. Algeria's Younes Ayachi won the gold, while Great Britain's Otis Poole took the bronze. All the three medallists could only clear 2.21m but failed all their three attempts to sail over 2.24m. The positions were thus decided on countback based on the number of attempts to clear the previous height. Ayachi cleared 2.21m in his first jump, while Meghwal and Poole did the same in their second and third attempts respectively. Meghwal's silver also made him the first Indi

Basant Kumar Meghwal won a silver in men's high jump event with a personal best effort to take India's medal tally to two at the World Athletics U20 Championships here. The 19-year-old from Anupgarh, a border town in the Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan, sailed over 2.21m, his lifetime best, to clinch the silver medal on the fourth and penultimate day of the championships on Saturday. Algeria's Younes Ayachi won the gold while Great Britain's Otis Poole took the bronze. All the three medallists could only clear 2.21m but failed all their three attempts to sail over 2.24m. The positions were thus decided on countback based on the number of attempts to clear the previous height. Ayachi cleared 2.21m in his first jump, while Meghwal and Poole did the same in their second and third attempts respectively. Earlier, Ashish Yadav had won a silver in the men's javelin throw event to open India's medal account on the third day.

At 19, Yadav became only the second Indian after two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra to win a silver medal in the men's javelin at the World Athletics U20 Championships.

Two-time Indian Olympic medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Friday became the co-owner of the UBS Athletics Kids Cup having already served as the programme's Ambassador for the past two seasons. The UBS Athletics Kids Cup is one of a grassroots initiatives, designed to introduce children to sports through fun, inclusive and accessible competition. It has engaged more than 250,000 children across 2,500 plus schools in five cities. "Over the last two seasons, I have seen the impact that UBS Athletics Kids Cup has created for children across schools," said Chopra, who added a Commonwealth Games silver to his crowded cabinet last month, in a release. "Every child deserves an opportunity to discover and showcase their talent, and becoming Co-owner felt like the natural next step because I truly believe in the vision we're building together. "Our ambition is to reach one million children and inspire many more youngsters to embrace sport. I look forward to sharing my own experience

Country does well in Commonwealth and Asian games but must aim higher

Commonwealth Games 2026 Day 7: Sri Lanka's Pathirage topped qualifying with 82.84m; Neeraj, Rohit and Yash Vir advanced, while Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem placed seventh with 78.63m.

The biggest attraction of the day will undoubtedly be the men's javelin throw qualification, where Neeraj Chopra returns to the CWG stage for the first time since 2018.

The day's biggest highlight came in para athletics, where Dilip Mahadu Gavit stormed to gold in the men's 100m T47 with a Games Record time of 10.71 seconds.

On Day 6 of the Commonwealth Games, the biggest moment belonged to Dilip Mahadu Gavit, who produced a breathtaking finish to win gold in the men's 100m T47 event.

National record holder Sarvesh Kushare scripted history as he became the first Indian to win a silver medal in the men's high jump event of the Commonwealth Games, losing the gold by the narrowest of margins in an enthralling showdown with Jamaica's Romaine Beckford. After sailing over 2.25m, both the 31-year-old Kushare and Beckford failed to clear the 2.28m mark. But the Jamaican took the gold as he had one less failed attempt than the Indian on count-back. The bronze went to Jack Kimani (2.20m) of England. The other Indian in the fray, Adarsh Ram, finished fifth with 2.15m. Before Monday, Tejaswin Shankar was the lone Indian to have won a high jump medal -- a bronze in the 2022 Birmingham Games. But Kushare bettered it with his silver. It was Kushare's first medal in the CWG and that too on debut. Tejaswin also competed on Monday and retired after failing to clear 2.05m in his first attempt. The move was a precautionary measure for Tejaswin as he is competing in the men's decath

Sharmila became the country's first Commonwealth Games para-athletics gold medallist, while Kushare became the first Indian to win silver in the men's high jump.

India's javelin ace Neeraj Chopra is in "perfect physical shape" ahead of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, chief athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair said on Friday, expressing confidence that the country will better its medal haul from the 2022 edition. Chopra, who won gold in the 2018 Games in Gold Coast in Australia with a throw of 86.47m, missed the 2022 edition due to an injury. He sustained a lower back injury just before the World Championships in September 2025 and he has competed in just one event this season in the Doha Diamond League where he finished fourth with a throw of 85.69m in June. "Chopra is in perfect shape physically. I have not seen him so good in a long time. He is very confident and we can expect a very good performance from him," Nair told PTI. "I need not tell you the colour of the medal but he is very confident of doing his best." Chopra reached Glasgow on Friday. It will be a tough fight for the gold as Chopra will be up against the likes of Rumesh Thara

With wrestling, shooting and badminton absent, India heads to Glasgow with its strongest-ever athletics squad, making track and field the country's biggest Commonwealth Games medal hope

From avoiding unnecessary close-ups to reducing objectifying camera angles, the new guidelines aim to reshape how women athletes are shown on television