Bhubaneswar: Asian Games bronze medallist Gulveer Singh won the men’s 5,000m event on the opening day of the 65th National Inter-State Athletics Championships at Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old athlete from Uttar Pradesh clocked 13:52.92 to clinch the top position, while Abhishek Pal occupied the second spot with a time of 13:54.18. Third place went to Harmanjot Singh, who clocked 13:54.60.
However, Gulveer’s timing was not enough to book a place in Japan, as the Athletics Federation of India’s Asian Games qualifying standard stands at 13:39.18.
Meanwhile, Jyothi Yarraji qualified for the Asian Games with a time of 13.14s in the women’s 100m hurdles event.
Anushka Yadav registered a hammer throw of 65.64m to qualify for the 2026 Asian Games.
Asha Ilango recorded 13.89m in the women’s triple jump and qualified for the 2026 Asian Games, while Dev Meena cleared 5.46m in the men’s pole vault event and booked his place at the Asian Games.
Earlier, the mega event was inaugurated by Sports and Youth Services Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, who encouraged the competitors and hailed Odisha’s sports infrastructure.
The inaugural event was attended by Dr. Lalit Kumar Bhanot, President of the South Asian Athletics Federation; Bhupendra Singh Poonia, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Sports and Youth Services Department; Dr. Yeddula Vijay, Sports Director; and Abhijit Paul, President of the Odisha Olympic Association.
The event is being jointly organised by the Athletics Federation of India and the Department of Sports and Youth Services, government of Odisha.
