National Junior Athletics Championships: Himanshu, Mohit Choudhary Excel on Day One in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, Oct 10: Haryana's Asian Youth Champion Himanshu made a resounding statement on the opening day of the 40th National Junior Athletics Championships at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar, on Friday (October 10).

The rising javelin thrower not only booked his ticket to the World U20 Championships but also rewrote the meet record in the U-18 Boys' category.

National Junior Athletics Championships Himanshu Betters Neeraj Chopra s Javelin Mark Mohit Choudhary Clocks Meet Record in 5000m — Himanshu (left), Mohit Choudhary (right). Image: AFI

Himanshu hurled the 700g javelin to a staggering 79.96m, surpassing the previous meet record of 76.50m set by none other than Neeraj Chopra in 2014 at Vijayawada. The qualification standard for the World U20 Championships stands at 68.50m, comfortably cleared by Himanshu.

"I'll do better in the final tomorrow," said Himanshu confidently. "I've been regularly crossing the 80m mark in practice and hope to further improve the meet record."

The young star had earlier bagged gold at the 2025 Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Saudi Arabia with a throw of 67.57m. He revealed he hadn't used his personal javelin during that event, which affected his performance.

Meanwhile, Telangana's Mohit Choudhary impressed in the U20 men's 5,000m, setting a new meet record of 14:09.71 seconds, bettering Vinod Singh's 2024 mark of 14:12.67.

The qualification window for the 2026 World U20 Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA, runs from October 1, 2025, to July 26, 2026.

The first day of the championships also witnessed record-breaking performances in several other categories, underlining the bright future of Indian athletics.

National Junior Athletics Championships 2025: Day One Results

Category	Event	Winners	Performance	Remarks
Boys U20	100m	Parth Singh (Jharkhand)	10.52s	–
		Pratik Maharana (Odisha)	10.72s	–
		Jasjit Singh Dhillon (Punjab)	10.79s	–
Boys U18	100m	Aditya Pisal (Maharashtra)	10.71s	–
		Chiranth P (Karnataka)	10.71s	–
		Savin Thingalaya (Karnataka)	10.81s	–
Boys U20	5,000m	Mohit Choudhary (Telangana)	14:09.71s	Meet Record (Prev: 14:12.67 by Vinod Singh, 2024)
		Abhinandan S (Maharashtra)	14:19.52s	–
		Dhramraj Jat (Rajasthan)	14:19.68s	–
Boys U16	60m	Abhinanth AB (Tamil Nadu)	6.95s	Meet Record (Prev: 6.99s by D Raj, 2024)
		Hariyant Pindwal (Uttar Pradesh)	7.03s	–
		Tharun A (Tamil Nadu)	7.04s	–
Girls U18	100m	Aarti (Haryana)	11.95s	–
		Shourya Ambure (Maharashtra)	12.16s	–
		Prisha Mishra (Haryana)	12.28s	–
Girls U20	100m	Suba Dharsini S (Tamil Nadu)	11.94s	–
		Kajal Vaja (Gujarat)	12.01s	–
		Nipam (Uttar Pradesh)	12.03s	–
Girls U20	5,000m	Sonam Parmar (Madhya Pradesh)	17:20.98s	–
		Pratima Verma (Uttar Pradesh)	18:04.57s	–
		Pooja (Haryana)	18:26.69s	–
Girls U20	Discus Throw	Nitika Kumari (Rajasthan)	48.81m	–
		Supriya Attri (Uttar Pradesh)	48.15m	–
		Riddhi (Haryana)	47.81m	–
Girls U16	60m	Jilsha Jinil (Kerala)	7.81s	–
		Mihika Surve (Maharashtra)	7.81s	–
		Pratiksha Mugade (Maharashtra)	7.82s	–
Boys U14	Triathlon (B)	Arthi SK (Tamil Nadu)	3147 pts	Meet Record (Prev: 2802 pts)
		Anushka (Haryana)	2768 pts	–
		Adwika KP (Karnataka)	2739 pts	–
Girls U14	Triathlon (C)	Sara Ghod (Maharashtra)	2511 pts	–
		Ritika (Haryana)	2455 pts	–
		Sumona Hansda (West Bengal)	2398 pts	–