National senior record holder high jumper Pooja Singh did not meet expectations and placed seventh in the final, as India concluded their World Athletics U20 Championships campaign with three medals. The 19-year-old Pooja cleared only 1.84m, below her national senior record of 1.93m, and could not clear 1.87m in three attempts. Izobelle Louison-Roe of Australia took gold with 1.92m, while Lilianna Batori of Hungary and Aitana Alonso of Spain earned silver and bronze at 1.90m each. Pooja had earlier won gold at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships with her record height and holds the senior Asian title. The Indian women’s 4x400m relay team placed ninth and last in the final with a time of 3 minutes 45.28 seconds. The squad included Bhoomika Nehate, Tahura Khatun, Tanu Chaudhary and Thiya Arumugam. The United States won gold in 3:29.15, followed by Australia in 3:31.39 and Great Britain in 3:32.08. India matched its medal totals from 2021 and 2022 with two silvers and one bronze. Ashish Yadav opened the tally with silver in the men’s javelin throw. Basant Kumar Meghwal added silver in the men’s high jump and Shahnavaz Khan took bronze in the long jump. From 2002 to 2018 India secured only four medals at the event, including golds by Neeraj Chopra in 2016 and Hima Das in 2018. Seema Antil claimed India’s first medal with silver in the discus in 2002, followed by Navjeet Kaur Dhillon’s bronze in 2014. In 2021 Amit and Shaili Singh each won silver while the mixed 4x400m relay took bronze. In 2022 Selva Prabhu Thirumaran and the mixed relay earned silver and Rupal Chaudhary won bronze. India claimed one medal in 2024, a bronze by Aarti in the women’s 10,000m race walk.
