India’s Priya Mohan came close to a medal in the women’s 400m final at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday, eventually finishing fourth with a new personal best.
A terrific late surge from the Indian put her in the mix in the final straight of the race. But her competitors held their positions ahead. It was a personal best of 52.77 seconds for Priya, improving from 53.29 seconds set earlier this year.
This was the event that saw Hima Das create history in 2018 by winning gold medal in Tampere. Nigeria’s Uko Imaobong won gold this time, followed by Kornelia Lesiewicz (POL) and Sylvia Chelangat (Kenya).
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Good Run Priya, well done.
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) August 21, 2021
Priya Mohan of #India clocked her Personal Best time of 52.77s in girls 400m final & finished fourth at #WorldAthleticsU20
But she is not coming empty handed from #Nairobi, she had helped India secure a bronze medal in 4*400m mixed relay on day 1. pic.twitter.com/hvypkoUZXw
Amazing finish by Priya Mohan with 52.77s time with 4th position in the Women’s 400m finals of #WorldAthleticsU20 Great start Priya, this is just a beginning and long way to go. pic.twitter.com/2QEHwAyDxT
— Hima (mon jai) (@HimaDas8) August 21, 2021
Earlier at the event in Nairobi, Priya was part of the bronze medal-winning 4x400m mixed relay team from India. She had run three 400m races on the opening day, with the heats for the relay, followed by the heat for the individual event and later the relay final. She is also expected to be past of the women’s 4x400 relay final on Sunday.
In the men’s 400m hurdle, Rohan Kamble did not qualify for the final as he finished seventh in his semi-final race with a timing of 52.88s.
On Saturday, India added another medal to their tally with Amit Khatri winning a historic 10km race walk silver.
World U20 Athletics C’ships: India’s Amit Khatri wins silver medal in men’s 10,000 race walk
Imaobong Nse Uko 🇳🇬 comes from behind to take the 400m #WorldAthleticsU20 title in a personal best 51.55. pic.twitter.com/MyQauI6lr6
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 21, 2021