Sri Lanka Athletics Championships: Sonia Baishya, and Jisna Mathew bags gold and silver respectively in women's 400 meters event

On the second day of the Sri Lanka Athletics Championships 2023, Sonia Baishya registered her name in history by winning the gold medal in the women's 400 meters with a timing of 53.6 seconds at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday. Apart from this, Jisna Mathew won the silver medal in the same event with a timing of 53.46 seconds.

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Sonia, who hails from Raiganj district of West Bengal, clocked 53.46 seconds. She fell just eight milliseconds short of her Personal Best (PB) effort of 53.38. Sonia also fell four milliseconds of her season-best 53.42s achieved at the Federation Cup in Ranchi in February. The 27-year-old, who grew up with zero infrastructural support, running on a grassy uneven field. Sonia has been a promising quarter-miler, as she has been consistently clocking a good timing this season.

On the other hand, Jisna Mathew, who has a PB of 52.65, delivered a below-par performance, clocking 53.75 seconds. In pole vault, S Siva won silver after he cleared 4.90m.

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Earlier, javelin thrower Kishore Kumar Jena came up with his personal and season-best throw of 84.38m to clinch the gold medal. While Shivpal Singh settled for silver with a distant 77.36m throw. Jena, who had a PB of 82.87m until the Sri Lanka Athletics Championships, is now ranked fourth among the Indian throwers.

Ahead of the Asian Games and World Championships, Sri Lanka Athletics Championships has come as a practice session for Indian athletes. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has sent a total of 27 Indian athletes to the island nation. Athletes from India and Maldives participated in the Sri Lanka Athletics National Championships, which will end on July 30.