Suraj Panwar on Monday won India’s first athletics medal of the 2018 Youth Olympics by bagging the silver in the men’s 5,000m race walk.

The 17-year-old recorded times of 20.35.87 and 20.23.30 in the two stages of the race walk to finish second behind Ecuador’s Oscar Patin.

In a new format, there are no finals in track and field (with the exception of 4km cross-country) in the Youth Olympics and each event is held twice, with results from both rounds counting towards the final standings.

Panwar came second in the first stage and initially crossed the finish line in the same position in the second stage as well, but Xin Wang was disqualified for a lane infringement, which pushed the Indian to the top.

Despite topping the second stage, Panwar’s total time of 40:59.17 was over seven minutes slower than Patin’s 40:51.86. Puerto Rico’s Jan Moreu finished third to get the bronze.

This is India’s first athletics medal in this edition and third overall. Arjun (men’s discus throw) and Durgesh Kumar (men’s 400m hurdles) had won a silver each in the inaugural edition in 2010.

“It’s a great feeling,” Panwar said after winning the silver medal. “I am very happy to have won a medal. I had put in a lot of hard work for the Games. It is my first medal for India. My next target is to better my performance here and win a medal in the senior level also,” he added.

With inputs from PTI