Insight Bureau: Amit Khatri of India clinched silver in the men’s 10,000m race walk at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi on Saturday, finishing in 42 minutes 17.94 seconds. Amit came in second against Kenya’s Heristone Wanyonyi, who won gold with a timing of 42:10.84.
Wanyonyi overtook the Indian teenager in the last lap after he had dominated the race for the majority of it. With a time of 42:26.11, Paul McGrath of Spain brought home the bronze medal.
Amit, 17, set a new national U-20 record in 10km race walking when he won the 18th National Federation Cup in a time of 40:40.97 earlier this year. It’s the first time an Indian has won a medal in race walking, and the nation has also won two medals in a single edition of the event. Earlier this week, the mixed 4x400m relay team had secured bronze.
The Indian quartet of Bharath S, Priya Mohan, Summy, and Kapil finished third in the mixed relay race with a time of 3 minutes 20.60 seconds.
In all, an Indian has won six medals in the World Athletics U20 Championships. Seema Antil, Navjeet Kaur Dhillon, Neeraj Chopra, and Hima Das are among the previous winners.