India’s mixed 4x400m relay team won bronze medal at the Athletics World U-20 Championships in Nairobi with a timing of 3:20.60 seconds.

This was the mixed event’s debut at the U20 Worlds.

The team consisting of Bharat Sridhar, Priya Mohan, Summy and Kapil finished third behind Nigeria and Poland with a timing of 3:20.60 seconds.

This is India’s fifth medal at the Athletics U-20 World Championships but just the second one in a track event after Hima Das’ 400m gold medal in 2018.

With this bronze India have now won medals at four successive Athletics U-20 World Championships.

India's medals at U20 World Athletics

GAMES ATHLETE EVENT MEDAL WON PERFORMANCE
2002 - Jamaica Seema Antil Discus Throw Women Silver 55.83m
2014 - USA Navjeet Kaur Dhillon Discus Throw Women Bronze 56.36m
2016 - Poland Neeraj Chopra Javelin Throw Men Gold 86.48m
2018 - Finland Hima Das 400m Women Gold 51.46s
2021 - Nairobi Barath, Priya, Kapil and Summy Mixed 4x400m  Bronze 3:20.60s

Bharat Sridhar had replaced Abdul Razak Rasheed for the final even as the Indian team had topped their heat to qualify for the final.

The team of Abdul Razak Rasheed, Priya Mohan, Summy and Kapil had clocked a time of 3:23.36 to finish ahead of Czech Republic, Jamaica and Poland in the first heat earlier in the day.

Elsewhere in men’s javelin throw, India’s Kunwer Ajai Raj Singh Rana and Jay Kumar qualified for the final after finishing 6th and 7th respectively in qualification. Rana threw for a best of 71.05m while Kumar managed a best attempt of 70.34. Both attempts were short of the automatic qualification but they comfortably finished among the top 12 competitors.

Barath, who had carried an injury, did not run the heat but was chosen as the first leg runner for the final. He had clocked 47.55s recently during the Federation Cup National Junior Championships in Sangrur. For Priya and Summy, the mixed 4x400m relay final was their third race of the day as both also featured in the individual 400m heats.

“We were inspired by Olympic javelin gold medallist Neeraj Chopra. We wanted to show the world that his win at the Olympics was not a fluke. Our win here will inspire many Indians to take up athletics,” Priya Mohan said after the final race.

“It is a wonderful moment for me and my team-mates. It is a dream come true for us to win a medal at an international event and we want to thank World Athletics and our hosts Kenya for making it happen,” said Barath.

Priya also progressed to the individual 400m final after the heat in the morning session. She progressed as one of the fastest non-direct qualifiers with a time of 53.79s. The final will be held on Saturday.

Also progressing to the final was Amandeep Singh Dhaliwal in men’s shot put (Attempts: 17.92 17.75 17.90). He made it to the final in 11th place overall, with 12 athletes making the cut.

Also on day one, Vipin Kumar could not go past the qualification stage in the hammer throw. His best attempt of 63.17m was way below the qualifying mark of 74m.