Parul Chaudhary wins bronze in 3000m steeplechase at Asian Games

NEW DELHI: Parul Chaudhary broke her personal best on the way to a bronze medal in the women's 3000m steeplechase at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Sunday, adding a second Asian Games medal to the event. The Indian clocked 9:08.67 to finish third on the podium, improving her personal best in a strong performance. Parul had won silver in the same event at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023. Bahrain's Winfred Yavi won the gold in 9:04.36, while Kazakhstan's Norah Jeruto Tanui claimed silver in 9:06.82. India's other runner, Ankita, finished fourth but also produced a personal best, clocking 9:19.24.

Parul's 9:08.67 marked a new personal best as well as India's new National Record as she once again finished on the Asian Games podium, three years after her silver-medal performance in Hangzhou. Yavi stayed ahead of the field to secure gold, while Tanui took silver. Parul held on for bronze to add another medal to India's athletics haul. Ankita narrowly missed the podium but had a personal milestone of her own, lowering her best time to 9:19.24.

Earlier, India's Sarvesh Kushare and Ancy Sojan had to settle for silver after leading for large parts of their respective finals. Sarvesh was in contention for gold in the men's high jump but slipped to second after failing to clear 2.25m on his first attempt. Chinese Taipei's Chao Hsuan-Fu cleared the height at his first attempt, while Sarvesh succeeded with his second. Ancy also led the women's long jump after producing 6.53m in her fifth attempt. However, China's Huang Yingying delivered a decisive 6.55m in the final round to move ahead and take gold.

Shaili Singh missed the bronze after China's Mengyi Tan produced 6.46m with her final attempt to move ahead of the Indian, whose best effort was 6.42m. Earlier, Harita Bhadra won bronze in the women's 200m in 23.20 seconds, edging Japan's Ido Abigeirufuka by 0.01 seconds. Singapore's Shanti Pereira won gold in 22.78s, while China's Chen Yujie took silver in 22.93s. Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland finished sixth in 23.48s.