Tricolour Soared High on the World Athletics Stage: Nita Ambani Lauds Indian Athletes on 'Momentous Day'

Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson, Reliance Foundation lauded India’s athletes for their ‘outstanding’ performance at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

“Heartiest congratulations to Neeraj Chopra for winning India’s first ever gold medal at the World Athletics Championships. It is a momentous day for India as the tricolour soared high on the world athletics stage. Congratulations also to DP Manu, Parul Chaudhary, Jeswin Aldrin, our men’s relay team, and our very own Reliance Foundation athlete Kishore Jena for their outstanding performances in making India proud in the global arena. We, at Reliance Foundation, are proud to partner with the Athletics Federation of India and play our part in the journey of Indian athletes from grassroots to glory!” – Mrs. Nita M. Ambani, Founder & Chairperson, Reliance Foundation.

India’s Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra won a historic maiden gold medal for the country. The 25-year-old, who has been bothered by an injury in the last few months, killed the competition in the Hungarian capital with a massive throw of 88.17 in his second turn,

Meanwhile, the Indian men’s 4x400m relay team raised hopes of a historic medal after finishing second overall in the heats with Asian record time of 2 minute 59.51 seconds on Saturday. But, in the final on Sunday, the quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh could do no better than finish a creditable fifth with a time of 2:59.92.

Parul Chaudhary created a national record of 9 minute 15.31 seconds while finishing 11th in women’s 3000m steeplechase final. The earlier record was held by Lalita Babar (9:19.76) who had finished eighth in the final of the 2015 World Championships.

Chopra’s gold on the last day of competitions brought cheers to the Indian camp after an underwhelming start. Except for the performances of Chopra, Jena, Manu, Parul Chaudhary, the men’s 4x400m relay team and Jeswin Aldrin (11th in men’s long jump final), the World Championships outing was mediocre for the remaining Indians.

Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar and 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable were tipped to be the best performers after Chopra but both failed to qualify for the finals in their respective events, much to the disappointment of the Indian camp.

(With inputs from Agencies)