Ankita took off almost four seconds to set a new meet record in the women’s 3000m Steeplechase on the fourth and final day of the 65th National Open Athletics Championships, one of two new meet records set on Sunday at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
The 24-year-old Ankita, representing Railways Sports Promotion Board, clocked 9:34.86 to better Lalita Babar’s 11-year-old record set in 2015. On the men’s side, All India Police Sports Control Board’s Jishnu Prasad P.K. ran a personal best timing of 20.62 seconds to win the 200m ahead of Abhin Devadiga.
While there were only two meet records, there were plenty of athletes setting new personal best timings and distances across track and field. The talented 21-year-old Mogali Venkatram Reddy, the 2025 junior national champion, added the senior title to his belt in the men’s 800m, completing in a personal best time of 1:47.01 for a new meet record even as reigning national record holder Mohd Afsal pulled out midway.
Gujarat’s Murad Sirman, representing Services, broke the 50-second barrier for the first time ever, clocking 49.86s in the 400m Hurdles. In the morning session, Sandeep Kumar won the marathon race walk while Ramandeep Kaur took the top spot among the women in a race that had only five entries – with two not completing the race, leaving the only three competitors who finished to be the medallists.
Published on Oct 11, 2026
