Promising long distance runner Sanjeevani Jadhav clinched a bronze in women’s 8 kilometer cross-country race while India also collected the yellow metal in the team event at Guiyang in China.
The 20-year-old Sanjeevani clocked 28 minute 19 seconds to cover the 8 kilometer distance, behind Li Dan (28:03) of China and Abe Yukari (28:06) of Japan in the 14th Asian Cross Country Championship.
The Indian women’s team of Sanjeevani, Swati Gadhave, Jhuma Khatun and Lalita Babar also won a bronze. The performance of three best finishers of a country in the individual race is considered for the team medal.
Gadhave (30:18) finished 11th in the individual race while Khatun (32:14) was 14th. Babar, who reached the final round of the 3000-metre steeplechase event in the 2016 Rio Olympics, finished last in the 15-athlete individual race in 32:53. She was taking part in an international event for the first time after her marriage last year.
In a cross country race, the participants run on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course may pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road.