India has been made proud again on the international stage, as Amit Khatri won silver for his performance in the 10km Race Walk at the World Athletics U20 Championships.
He clocked a time 42:17.94 seconds to clinch silver in the race. Khatri was leading for a large portion of the race but was overtaken by Kenyan walker Heristone Wanyonyi who clocked a time of 42:10.84s to win the gold medal. The bronze medal was won by Paul McGrath of Spain, who finished at 42:31.11.
Khatri was known for setting new national records at the Junior Federation Cup, which was held in January of this year. He claimed his 10 km Race Walk title there with a dominant fashion.
The 17-year-old race walker finished with a time of 40 minutes 40.97 seconds, breaking the earlier national record of 40:37.78 and was nearly half a minute ahead of fellow state race walker, Pradeep Mor. It was also three minutes quicker than Khatri’s own record on the national stage which was 43:36.26, a time which he clocked in the National Youth Championships in 2019.
He is the second Indian medal winner this tournament, after the 4x400m relay team. The team of Kapil, Summy, Priya Mohan and Bharat S. won a bronze medal in that event. They clocked a time of 3:20.60 seconds to finish third in the race. They lost out to Nigeria and Poland who had superior finishes.
They join the likes of Seema Antil, Neeraj Chopra, Hima Das and others who have won medals in this tournament. India had sent a 27 member contingent to compete in this event.
