New Delhi: A star was born at the National Inter-State Championships on Wednesday as Uttar Pradesh’s 18-year-old hammer thrower Anushka Yadav rewrote the history of Indian athletics with a stunning performance to become the country’s youngest national record holder.In the competition held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, the girl from Baleni village in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district broke the women’s hammer throw national record with a huge score of 6702m, surpassing the record of 6525m set by Sarita Singh in 2017.What is even more remarkable is that Anushka broke the national record twice during the competition. After starting with a time of 62.07m, she surpassed the long-standing record with a time of 65.64m in the second round and achieved a stunning 67.02m on her final attempt.This result is a huge leap forward from her previous official personal best result of 6289m when she won the gold medal at the National Games. Her opening throw alone was enough to clear the Athletics Federation of India Asian Games The qualifying standard is 61.72m.
From farmland to national records: Anushka’s extraordinary journey
Anushka’s journey to the national record is as inspiring as her achievements. Born into a farming family, she initially wanted to be a sprinter before her father, former hammer thrower Sushil Yadav, guided her into throwing.“My father made me play hammer throw. I have three personal coaches, including my father and Chirag Yadav. I train at local grounds,” Anushka said after breaking the record.The teenager revealed she first picked up a hammer at the age of 12 and now has bigger ambitions.“I want to throw over 70m at the Asian Games and win a gold medal,” she said.Her achievement becomes even more impressive considering she fractured her ligament a few months ago.“The incident happened in March when I was trying to repair some problems with the tractor on a plot of land at home. My brother and father were also present at the time. Fortunately, I recovered quickly,” she said.
Record-breaking day lights up national interstate championships
While Anushka stole the show, the opening day also saw another national record as Madhya Pradesh’s Dev Meena achieved 5.46m in the men’s pole vault, improving on his previous mark of 5.45m.National record holder Jyothi Yarraji also returned from a year-long injury layoff to win the women’s 100m hurdles title in 12.99 seconds.“I was expecting better times, but I feel good. Last year I got injured today. The same day I came back and I showed up. It means a lot to me,” Yaraj said.
