Amanat Kamboj makes women's discus throw final at U20 Athletics Worlds
Eugene, Aug 6
Indian thrower Amanat Kamboj made it to the women's discus throw final at the U20 World Athletics Championships final with a season's best throw on Thursday.
Amanat, who won the Asian U20 gold in discus with a best effort of 52.24 in May this year, recorded the throw of 52.58 to finish sixth among the world's best U20 throwers in the qualifications.
She became the third Indian to enter their respective finals after Ashish Yadav and T. Dharanidharan made it through to the men's javelin final.
Ashish topped his group with a best throw of 69.87m, while Dharanidharan recorded 68.07m to finish in his group to make the final. Overall, Ashish finished second in the qualification, while Dharanidharan placed 12th.
South African U20 javelin champion Jan-Hendrik Heymans started off hot in Eugene, hitting the automatic qualifying mark on his first throw with 76.02m. That was more than six metres farther than the next best throw, and the sole attempt beyond 70 metres.
Behind Heymans, three athletes surpassed 69 metres, including India's Ashish (69.87m), Poland's Aleksander Wojna (69.80m) and China's Yang Zhaoyi (69.80m), setting the stage for a final that could feature a tight medal fight. USA's Nolan Carey, who set a personal best of 74.72m in May and won the US U20 title in Eugene in July, did not advance.
The women's dicuss throw final is scheduled for Saturday, while the men's javelin will be held
In the men's 800m, Mogali Venkatram clocked 1:52.81 to finish third in his heat and booked a spot in the semifinal, while Uwin Anand ran a quicker 1:52.37 but was edged out in a faster heat.
The mixed 4×400m relay team Piyush Raj, Tahura Khatun, Sayed Sabeer and Thiya Arumugam clocked the season-best 3:22.85 but could not make it to the final as they finished outside the best nine.
A 36-member Indian track and field contingent is competing at the World Athletics U20 Championships 2026, running from August 5 to 9 at Hayward Field in Oregon.
— IANS
Reader Comments
So proud of our young athletes! Amanat, Ashish, and Dharanidharan all in finals. The future of Indian athletics looks bright. Also great to see Uwin Anand running a personal best even if he didn't qualify. These kids are putting in the hard work, and it shows. 👏
Six meters ahead of everyone? That South African kid is in a league of his own. But our boys Ashish and Dharanidharan being second and 12th overall is a solid showing. Medal possible in javelin if they can pull out a big throw on the day. All the best! 💪
Good to see Indians competing at the world stage at junior level. But we need more investment in grassroots athletics—look at South Africa's 76m thrower, he's clearly benefitting from better training. Our athletes have the talent, they just need the support. Still, proud of Amanat and the boys. 🇮🇳
Amanat's throw of 52.58m is a season's best! That's brilliant. The fact that she's sixth in qualifying gives her a good lane in the final. Also noticed our 4x400 relay team gave it their all with a season's best—unlucky not to make the final. These are the building blocks for future senior teams. All the best to all our athletes! 🌟
Wait, so the US U20 champion didn't even qualify? That just shows how competitive this field is. Our athletes deserve credit for even making it this far. Amanat has already improved her PB from May (
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