Now Reading: Ashish Yadav ends India’s 10-year U-20 Worlds javelin medal drought
-
01
Ashish Yadav ends India’s 10-year U-20 Worlds javelin medal drought
Javelin thrower Ashish Yadav won silver at the U-20 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, with a best throw of 74.09m on Friday. It is India's first javelin medal at the U-20…
The Story in Brief
Javelin thrower Ashish Yadav won silver at the U-20 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, with a best throw of 74.09m on Friday. It is India's first javelin medal at the U-20 Worlds since Neeraj Chopra won gold in 2016. The 19-year-old from Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, whose father is a milkman, trains with the Indian Army. Neeraj Chopra welcomed him in a social media post, calling him 'super proud' and saying 'this is just the start'.
On Sunday, high jumper Basant Kumar Meghwal won silver clearing 2.21m, equalling his personal best, and long jumper Shahnavaz Khan took bronze with 7.84m. Both train under the Navy and SAI respectively. In the 400m, Mohammed Ashfaq finished sixth. Basant is the first Indian high jumper of any age to win a world medal.
The Indian Opinion
A milkman's son from Mirzapur winning a world medal is heartwarming, but the breathless 'heir to Neeraj' narrative needs a check. Chopra threw 86.48m to win his U-20 gold; Yadav's 74.09m silver came in a weak field. Two other Indians, a high jumper and a long jumper, also won medals at the same meet but got far less attention. The real test is not one flash of promise: can Ashish add 10 metres to his throw in the next two years, as Chopra did?
Sources (2): hindustantimes.com, hindustantimes.com (2)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
