Indian athletes won a total of four medals including one gold and three silvers on the first day of the Asian U20 Athletics Championships that started in Dubai on Wednesday. 

Also Read: 15-year-old Yan Ziyi sets new javelin women's World Junior Record after throwing 64.28m

On the very first day of the Asian U20 Athletics Championships, Deepanshu gave India its first gold by throwing 70.29m in javelin throw. In this event, Rohan Yadav of UP stood second with 70.23m. 

Meanwhile, Priyanshu from UP also won silver in men's 1500 meter race with a timing of 3:50.85s. Qatar's Aitoulghazi won the gold in this event.

Ritik won silver in discus throw 

Discus thrower Ritik Rathee won the silver medal. He threw the first throw at 49.97m. He did not get any marks in the second attempt. Ritik claimed the medal by throwing 52.23m in the third chance. Again he did not get any points in the fourth attempt, while in the fifth chance it was 50.35m and his final and sixth attempt was 53.01m. While Djibrine Adoum Ahmat of Qatar got gold. He had thrown a throw of 54.80m. Hassan Mubarak Alahsaee of Saudi Arabia won the bronze medal with 50.41m.

Laxita and Tanvi will compete in the 800m final

Earlier, in the 800m heat event of Asian U20 Athletics Championships, female athletes Laxita Vinod Sandliea and Tanvi Malik have reached the finals. Laxita finished second with a timing of 2:09.39, while Tanvi finished fourth in her heat with a timing of 2:12.82.

Anushka, Sangeetha, and Aman joined the race for medal in 400m

In the 400m race, Anushka Dattatray Kumbhar and Sangeetha Dodla have kept their medal hopes alive by reaching the finals. Anushka stood first in the 400m heat. She took a time of 55.75s. While Sangeetha finished second in her heat with a timing of 56.21s and remains in the race for the podium.

At the same time, in the men's 400m heat, Aman Choudhary performed well and entered the medal round. He took 48s to top his heat.

Also Read: 'I will try to breach the 90m mark before Paris Olympics': Neeraj Chopra aims to retain his Olympic gold in Paris

The Asian U20 Athletics Championships has started from 24th April and will continue till 27th April. A 60-member team including 31 men from India is participating in this championship. This is also the qualifying tournament for the World Under-20 Athletics Championships to be held from August 27-31 in Lima, Peru.

Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is set to return to Paris for his second Diamond League meet of the year, scheduled for June 20th on Stade Charlety stadium in Paris, France.

Also Read: Watch: Neeraj Chopra finishes second with a best throw of 84.14m at the Janusz Kusociński Memorial competition

Fourth competition of the year

Neeraj will continue his Paris Diamond League 2025 season after a magnificent start in Doha last month, where he achieved his first-ever 90m throw, attaining a distance of 90.23m to finish second. He finished second behind Germany’s Julian Weber, who threw a world-leading 91.06m.

This will be his fourth competition of the year, and he will be aiming to return to the top of the podium after missing out on the last two events in Qatar and Poland.

Paris Diamond League 2025 will be Neeraj's first competition of the month, which will be followed by the Ostrava Golden Spike, a World Athletics Continental Gold meet, in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on June 24th. Neeraj Chopra has a busy month ahead as he will return to India within 10 days after these two events to compete in the nation's first-ever javelin-only meet, the NC Classic, in Bengaluru on July 5th.

Neeraj skipped 2024 edition to prepare for Paris Olympics

Neeraj was expected to compete at the 2024 edition but skipped the meet to prepare for the Paris Olympics. Neeraj’s most recent outing came at the Janusz Kusociński Memorial in Chorzów, Poland, on May 23. Battling wet conditions, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion produced a best of 84.14m on his final attempt to finish second. Weber, once again, claimed top spot with an 86.12m attempt.

Neeraj Chopra started his 2025 athletics season in April by winning the Potch Invitational Meet in Potchefstroom, South Africa, with an 84.52m throw. He is also in the entry list for the Golden Spike athletics meet in Czechia scheduled on June 24 and will headline the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru on July 5.

Also Read: List of athletes to participate in Neeraj Chopra Classic

The top javelin throw athletes with the most points at the end of the Diamond League series will qualify for the 2025 Diamond League Final to be held in Zurich on August 27-28. Neeraj won the 2022 edition of the Doha Diamond League but had to settle for second-place finishes in 2023 and 2024.

The Indian contingent, over 60 athletes participating at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025 in Gumi, Republic of Korea, from May 27 to 31. Indian athletes won 24 medals, eight gold, 10 silver and six bronze, at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025.

400m runner Rupal Chaudhary and 1500m runner Pooja bagged silver medals, while Yoonus Shah added a bronze in the men’s 1500m event. Rupal clocked 52.68 seconds to finish second in the women’s 400m final. India’s Vithya Ramraj came in fifth with a time of 53.00 seconds. Pooja timed 4:10.83sec in the women’s 1500m to come in second, ahead of Lili Das, who finished fourth in 4:13.81sec.

In the men’s section, Yoonus Shah bagged the bronze with a time of 3:43.03, behind Japan’s Kazuto Lizawa, who clocked a PB of 3:42.56 and South Korean Jaeung Lee, who timed 3:42.79.

Also Read: Asian Athletics Championships 2025: Gulveer Singh wins gold in the men’s 10,000m, third Indian to achieve this feat

Meanwhile, India’s 4x400m mixed relay team successfully retained the gold medal as the quartet of Rupal, Santhosh Kumar, Vishal TK and Subha Venkatesan earned top spot with a timing of 3:18.12sec.

Decathlete Tejaswin Shankar added a silver for the nation, as he finished second in his event after accumulating a score of 7618 following the 10 events.

Earlier, India’s Gulveer Singh claimed the gold medal in the 10,000m event, while Servin Sebastian bagged the 20km race walk bronze.

The 26th edition of the Asian Athletics Championships features over 2000 athletes from 43 nations. Indian athletes participated in a total of 30 medal events - 15 for men, 14 for women and one mixed team - over the five-day competition.

Asian Athletics Championships 2025 | India’s medal winners

Asian Athletics Championships 2025 | Medal Tally

India got off to a stellar start to their campaign at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025 in Bangkok on Tuesday with national record holder Gulveer Singh taking the lead by winning the country's first gold medal in the men's 10,000m event. Earlier in the day, Servin Sebastian opened India's medal account by winning bronze in the men's 20km walk.

Also Read: List of athletes to participate in Neeraj Chopra Classic

Gulveer brings third gold for the country

Gulveer, the 26-year-old 2023 Asian Games bronze medallist, produced a composed performance to top the 10,000m. He won the gold medal in a race that lasted the last few laps, clocking 28 minutes 38.63 seconds. 

Though his time was well short of the national record of 27:00.22 he set earlier this year, the win marked a major achievement for Indian long-distance running on the continental stage.

This is India's third gold in the men's 10,000m race at the Asian Athletics Championships, after Hari Chand (1975) and Govindan Lakshmanan (2017).

Suzuki of Japan got silver

Mebuki Suzuki of Japan won the silver medal with a time of 28:43.84, while Albert Kibichi Rop of Bahrain won the bronze medal with a time of 28:46.82. With a brilliant acceleration in the final 800m, Gulveer overtook Suzuki and Rop.

Sebastian gave a tough fight

On the other hand, Sebastian gave a tough fight in the fiercely contested men's 20km walk and won India's first medal (bronze) in the event in his personal best timing of 1 hour 21 minutes and 13.60 seconds. His earlier best timing (1:21:23) came when he won the gold medal at the Uttarakhand National Games in February this year.

Wang Zhaozhao of China won the gold medal with a time of 1:20:36.90, while Kento Yoshikawa of Japan won the silver medal with a time of 1:20:44.90. Sebastian stayed in the leading group for most of the race and managed to hold off a late challenge from the chasing group to finish on the podium. 

Amit Khatri, the other Indian in the event, finished fifth with a time of 1:22:14.30, out of medal contention but still a solid performance.

Annu Rani disappointed in women's javelin throw

Meanwhile, Asian Games gold medallist Annu Rani disappointed in the women's javelin throw final and finished fourth out of twelve athletes. Annu's best throw was 58.30 metres, falling short of a podium finish by 64 centimetres. Annu's performance was well below her personal best and national record of 63.82m.

Su Lingdan of China won the gold medal with a personal best performance of 63.29 metres, while Momone Ueda of Japan won the silver with a throw of 59.39 metres. Japan's Sae Takemoto won the bronze with 58.94m. 

Also Read: Khelo India Youth Games 2025 Full Schedule

India sent a 58-member team

India has sent a 58-member contingent to the Asian Athletics Championships this year, aiming to add to its haul of 27 medals won in the last edition. Gulveer and Sebastian put up a stellar performance on day one, which has now raised expectations as the rest of the Indian team will look to add to the medal tally in the days to come.

The championship will continue till Saturday, with India eyeing strong performances across all categories in track, field and mixed relay events.

Neeraj Chopra finished second with a best throw of 84.14m at the Janusz Kusociński Memorial competition at Silesian Stadium in Poland on Friday.

Julian Weber finished first with an 86.12m throw.

Though the double-time Olympic medalist looked disappointed and frustrated after a few foul throws to start with, his fourth year in in top two of every tournament he participated in continued.

Read Also | Neeraj Chopra’s best throws: Here are all the top throws by javelin ace Neeraj Chopra

A few days ago, Neeraj had breached the 90m mark and registered his personal best and National record with a 90.23m throw in the Doha Diamond League. Unfortunately, even in that tournament also he finished second to Julian Weber's 91.06m throw. 

Wherever Neeraj Chopra goes, he does not return empty-handed. This series started in 2016 when this rising star made a record for the first time at the Under-20 World Athletics Championships. From that day itself, we got a glimpse of the future to come, in which many records were to be made and broken one after the other.

On Friday night of 16 May, Neeraj maintained the same trend in Doha Diamond League 2025 and got his name registered in history, becoming the first Indian to breach the 90m mark in the sport. So, it's time we take a look at every Neeraj Chopra records that he has made in his tremendous career so far.

Also Read: Neeraj Chopra’s best throws: Here are all the top throws by javelin ace Neeraj Chopra

Every Neeraj Chopra records you should know

• First Indian to breach the 90m mark: Neeraj Chopra’s best throw is 90.23m, achieved at the Doha Diamond League on May 16, 2025. The mark stands as the men’s national record in India and Neeraj Chopra’s personal best. It was the first time an Indian had breached the 90m-mark in the javelin.
• First Indian to win Olympic medal in athletics: At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Neeraj Chopra produced a historic performance in the men's javelin throw event. Neeraj won the gold medal in the final with a throw of 87.58m, giving India its first Olympic medal in athletics. With this win, Neeraj Chopra also became the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in a track and field event at the Olympics.
• First Indian to win silver at World Athletics Championships: Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won a historic silver medal at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon. He recorded a throw of 88.13m in his fourth attempt to claim the second spot. Chopra thus is the first Indian to win a silver medal at the World Athletics Championships and only the second medallist from the country after Anju Bobby George in 2003.
• First Indian track and field athlete to win world championship: Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. With this win, the then 18-year-old Neeraj became the first Indian track and field athlete to become a world champion in any event and any age level.
• First Indian World Record holder in track & field: Neeraj Chopra Threw 86.48m at the junior championships in Poland to win the title. With this, he set the new under-20 world record, beating the 84.69m mark established by the previous holder, Latvia's Zigismunds Sirmais. Neeraj’s 86.48m attempt at Bydgoszcz still stands as both the U20 world record as well as the U20 Asian record in the javelin throw.
• Indian national javelin throw record holder: Neeraj Chopra’s best attempt to date came at the Stockholm Diamond League 2022 in Sweden on June 30, 2022, where he managed his personal best of 89.94m to establish the new national record.
• First Indian to win javelin throw gold at Asian Games: Neeraj Chopra is the first Indian javelin thrower to win a gold medal at the Asian Games. Before him, Gurtej Singh was the only men’s javelin thrower from the country to win a medal – bronze at the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games. Neeraj threw  88.06m to claim the 2018 Asian Games title.
• First Indian to win a Diamond League meet: Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win a Diamond League meet after he topped the field in Lausanne in 2022. With a depleted field that had world champion Anderson Peters missing, the Indian comfortably led the charts with an 89.08m throw, in his first attempt. 
• First Indian to become Diamond League champion: Neeraj Chopra is the first Indian athlete in history to clinch the Diamond League trophy, by winning the Zurich Diamond League 2022 Final. The Indian ace recorded a best throw of 88.44m to beat Tokyo 2020 silver medallist and 2016 champion Jakub Vadlejch to the title.
• First Indian to become world champion: Neeraj Chopra became India's first world champion after he clinched the gold medal in the men's javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest with an effort of 88.17m. It was Neeraj Chopra's second straight medal at the world championships after his silver at Oregon 2022.

Also Read: India at Olympics: India's Olympic medal tally by every edition

Neeraj Chopra Records: Best throws at major competitions