The dust has settled from the recently concluded SAAF Junior Athletics Championships held in Chennai from September 11-13.
India performed impressively, finishing as winners with a medal tally of 48, including 21 gold, 22 silver, and 5 bronze, breaking several SAAF Junior Athletics records in the process.
Several of the Indian athletes who participated also took part in the recently concluded U20 World Championships in Peru, and for several more, this was the first international event.
The margin of victory from India shows the dominance of the young athletes on the international stage, a good sign for the future of Indian athletics.
We at The Bridge collected the list of top performers at the SAFF Junior Athletics 2024.
Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland
Unnathi Aiyappa had a memorable SAFF Junior Athletics, winning two gold medals, one in the junior women’s 100m hurdles and one in the junior women’s 200m.
In the 110m hurdles, she clocked in 13.93s, breaking the SAFF record of 14.19s held till then by Sri Lankan S.Kumari.
She also broke the SAAF record in the 200m, finishing the race in 23.91s, beating the 11-year record held by A.Suseendran (24.32s).
Incidentally, both of these weren’t her personal best scores, showcasing her potential.
The Asian U20 Championships bronze medalist has certainly laid down several markers in 2024 and the SAAF accolades will be a happy addition to the collection.
Deepika
Deepika, off the javelin field, is a very quiet person but with the spear in hand, she makes the biggest noise.
Touted as one of India’s brightest javelin prospects, Deepika shattered the SAAF Junior record in women’s javelin throw.
With a record throw of 54.98m, she outdid the SAAF record by nearly 7m, with the previous record being 48.08m.
Deepika broke the SAAF record in all six of her throws, with all of them measuring over 50m.
She holds the U20 and U18 national record and is going from strength to strength and it is just a matter of time before we see Deepika in the biggest of stages.
Neeru Pathak
The seventeen-year-old runner from Delhi bagged three medals at the SAAF Junior Athletics 2024, gold in 400m (54.50s), 4x400m relay, and bronze in 200m (24.91s).
At the National Youth Athletics Championships, she broke the national record in the U18 category of women’s 400m, clocking in at 52.85s.
The highly talented runner has shown she belongs at the highest level, and it is to be noted that she ran the women’s 200m and 4x400m relay almost back to back at the SAAF Junior Athletics Championship, with just ten minutes of rest in between.
Her recent rise in the world of athletics is a clear sign of things to come.
Jay Kumar
Jay Kumar made history at the World U20 Athletics Championship earlier, by becoming the first Indian male to qualify for the finals of the men’s 400m final.
Although he did not finish in a medal place there, he managed to do just that in Chennai last week, winning the gold medal in the men’s 400m with a personal best timing of 46.86s.
Added to that, he also helped the Indian team to a silver medal in the 4x400m relay.
With lofty ambitions to one day compete at the Olympics, Jay Kumar is taking the right steps in the right direction.
Women’s 4x100m relay team
Although the headlines about the relay events at the SAAF Junior Athletics went to Sri Lanka, the Indian women outshone at the 4x100m relay, breaking the SAAF junior record by more than a second, clocking at 45.08s (the previous record was 46.28s).
The women’s team comprised of Nancy, Cornelio B, Abinaya Rajarajan and Sudheeksha V.
Watching these talented youngsters prove their mettle in international tournaments is always a positive sign and there were many in this event, a hope for things to come in the future.