On Saturday, Indian athlete Amit Khatri completed the silver medal in the men’s 10,000-meter walking race at the World U-20 Athletics Championships in Nairobi with a time of 42 minutes and 17.94 seconds. Amit fell behind Kenyan gold medallist Heristone Wanyonyi with a score of 42: 10.84. Before being overtaken by Wanyonyi on the penultimate lap, the young Indian held a leading position in most regional competitions. Spaniard Paul McGrath won the bronze medal with a score of 42: 26.11.
Amit, 17, won the 18th National Confederations Cup with a time of 40 minutes and 40
seconds earlier this year, setting a new national U-20 record for a 10-kilometer walk.
“As it’s a high altitude so breathing (was a) problem for me. It was my first international competition and (I) won silver for India. I’m happy with silver at least I could fulfil the hopes of India,” said Amit after winning the medal, according to a tweet shared by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
This is the first time that an Indian has won a medal in race walking and is also the first time that the country has won two medals in a single edition of the event. The mixed 4x400m relay team had won the bronze medal earlier this week.
This is the first time that an Indian has won a medal in race walking and is also the first time that the country has won two medals in a single edition of the event. The mixed 4x400m relay team had won the bronze medal earlier this week.In the mixed relay race, the Indian quartet of Bharath S, Priya Mohan, Summy and Kapil had clocked 3 minutes 20.60 seconds to finish third in the final.
Overall, this is the sixth medal won by an Indian at the World Athletics U20 Championships. Previous winners include Seema Antil, Navjeet Kaur Dhillon, Neeraj Chopra and Hima Das.
