Top Indian Runners Vie for Asian Cross-Country Team Spots in Ranchi Nationals

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will select both senior and junior (U20) athletes for next month's Asian Cross Country Championships in Japan, AFI president Bahadur Singh Sagoo informed in a release on Friday.

The top four runners in each of the senior (men and women) and junior (men and women) groups will be selected to be part of the Indian team during the National Cross-Country Championships, Sagoo added.

"The AFI will select a 16-member national team, including eight in the women's section, for the 18th Asian Cross-Country Championships to be held on February 21 in Fukuoka, Japan," the AFI president said.

In all, 35 teams, including affiliated state units, will compete in the National Cross-Country Championships in Ranchi on Saturday. Overall, 732 athletes, including 328 female runners, have confirmed their participation in the first domestic competition of the 2026 season.

The distance for the senior men and women will be 10km. The junior men will compete over a distance of 8km. The distance for the U20 women's will be 6km. The distance for U18 boys will be 6km, and for U18 girls will be 4km, respectively. For U16 boys and U16 girls, the distance will be 2km.

The national team also competed in the 2026 World Athletics Cross-Country Championships held on January 10 in Tallahassee, Florida (USA). In a highly competitive individual 10km, Gulveer Singh was the leading Indian runner and finished 40th with a time of 30:39.

The Indian mixed relay team of Ajay Saroj, Pooja, Yoonus Shah, and Ankita finished overall 12th in the 4 x 2km competition with a time of 24 minutes 13 seconds. Each member of the Indian mixed relay team had to cover a distance of 2km.

- IANS