Four Records Fall On Day Two Of National Junior Athletics Championships in Chennai

Chennai, Oct 25: Four records were broken on the second day of the 41st National Junior Athletics Championships 2026 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, with Telangana's Lodenge Ramu, Uttar Pradesh's Tanu Chaudhary, Rajasthan's Chuki Birda and Tamil Nadu's Tharanesh C delivering standout performances.

Ramu broke a decade-old national record in the men's U18 400m, clocking 46.80 seconds to win gold. He surpassed Chandan Bauri's previous record of 46.99 seconds, set in 2015.

Tanu Chaudhary set a meet record in the women's U18 400m, winning gold in 53.40 seconds and improving on Jisna Mathew's 53.85-second mark from 2015.

Birda set a national record in the women's U20 pole vault, clearing 3.91m to better the previous mark of 3.90m set by Vanshika Ghanghas last year. Tharanesh C broke the boys' U16 shot put national record with a throw of 17.86m, surpassing Nitesh Kumar's 17.42m mark from 2024.

Day Two Results

Men

• U20 400m: Vaibhav Bhardwaj (Uttar Pradesh) - 47.45s; Raj Chauhan (Maharashtra) - 47.64s; Thanish Gaddam (Maharashtra) - 47.68s.
• U20 Long Jump: Jithin RC (Tamil Nadu) - 7.64m; Ayush Yadav (Delhi) - 7.51m; Dhanush Raj M (Kerala) - 7.50m.
• U20 Discus Throw: Devansh Jagga (Punjab) - 55.35m; Yashraj Jain (Madhya Pradesh) - 54.13m; Usman Ali Khan (Madhya Pradesh) - 53.74m.
• U20 Hammer Throw: Kartik (Uttar Pradesh) - 67.54m; Aman (Uttar Pradesh) - 67.19m; Mohd Abdulla (Uttar Pradesh) - 64.96m.
• U20 Decathlon: Jakhar Rahul (Gujarat) - 7,125 points; Abhay Singh (Uttar Pradesh) - 6,697; Aryan Prakash (Madhya Pradesh) - 6,288.
• U18 400m: Lodenge Ramu (Telangana) - 46.80s (national record); Manas Shinde (Maharashtra) - 47.24s; Aditya (Haryana) - 47.79s.
• U18 Javelin Throw: Krishan Chandra (Madhya Pradesh) - 74.83m; Pushpak Nelwade (Karnataka) - 73.43m; third place: Salauddin (Madhya Pradesh), distance not provided.
• U16 Shot Put: Tharanesh C (Tamil Nadu) - 17.86m (national record); Varadraaj Jagtap (Maharashtra) - 17.10m; Abhishek Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) - 17.08m.
• U14 Triathlon A: Saurav Bind (Uttar Pradesh) - 2,195 points; Rajveer Gurjar (Rajasthan) - 2,179; Barno Das (West Bengal) - 2,137.

Women

• U20 400m: Tahura Khatun (West Bengal) - 54.64s; Vanshika Rathi (Uttar Pradesh) - 55.08s; Maya (Punjab) - 55.11s.
• U20 Pole Vault: Chuki Birda (Rajasthan) - 3.91m (national record); Jeena Basil (Kerala) - 3.80m; Tanishka Dayma (Madhya Pradesh) - 3.50m.
• U18 400m: Tanu Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) - 53.40s (meet record); Sehnoor Bawa (Punjab) - 54.27s; Sahaya Jemima (Tamil Nadu) - 55.66s.
• U16 Shot Put: Tejaswini G Rao (Karnataka) - 13.48m; Hanpreet (Haryana) - 13.10m; Jayani Patil (Maharashtra) - 12.33m.
• U14 Triathlon A: Meera Bobal (Delhi) - 2,617 points; Yazhini AM (Tamil Nadu) - 2,503; Tamanna (Punjab) - 2,448.

The day's performances highlighted the depth of emerging talent across age groups, with four record-breaking efforts headlining the championships.