National Open Athletics Championships: Debutant Shailesh Kushwaha pocketed the gold in the Indian Elite Men category title, while Ankita Dhyani put on a splendid run to claim her maiden gold in the Indian Elite Women category at the Delhi Half Marathon here on Sunday.
The 20-year-old Kushwaha won a closely fought men’s race in 1:05:05. He broke away from a five-man lead pack soon after halfway and held off Gaurav Mathur (1:05:11) by six seconds, while Hemant Singh (1:05:37) finished third.
Among Indian elite women, Ankita Dhyani took the top spot with a time of one hour, 12 minutes and 46 seconds, while Soniya (1:14:56) and Bhagirathi (1:15:51) finished second and third, respectively.
“I wasn’t happy with how I did at the 65th National Open Athletics Championships 2026, so I was eager to give this run my absolute best. It’s tough to find the confidence to break early and lead for most of the race, but today I was able to do it. I definitely felt the pressure because Gaurav was right behind me all the way to the end,” said Kushwaha.
Dhyani, a World University Games steeplechase silver medallist who trains in the United States, broke clear of the Indian field early and ran among the international elite to win in 1:12:46, more than five minutes inside her previous best.
Debutant Soniya (1:14:56) and Bhagirathi (1:15:51) completed the podium, while former champion Lili Das set a personal best of 1:16:20 in fourth.
“I’ve been training well, and to be honest, the way my training has been going, I think I could have done a little bit better. If Indian women focus more on the half marathon, we’ll soon see the national record broken. I’m very happy that all three of us on the podium are from Uttarakhand. The state supports us a lot, and we are happy with the achievement,” said Dhyani.
The top three finishers in the Indian Elite Men’s and Women’s categories will receive prize money of Rs 350,000, Rs 250,000 and Rs 150,000, respectively.
“I’ve been training well, and to be honest, the way my training has been going, I think I could have done a little bit better. If Indian women focus more on the half marathon, we’ll soon see the national record broken. I’m very happy that all three of us on the podium are from Uttarakhand. The state supports us a lot, and we are happy with the achievement,” said Dhyani.
Article Source: IANS
