National Sports Day: Young Indian Athletes in the Limelight 

As National Sports Day is here, it is time to highlight these young sports players who participated in the Paris Olympics 2024. These athletes belong to various sports and inspire the next generation to participate in sports. With their unwavering commitment and dedication to their sports, these players have courageously worked hard to achieve their goals. Here’s a spotlight on some young athletes influencing the next generation to step forward and be the next ones to represent the country!

Let’s bring these young Olympic players into the limelight:

Parul Chaudhary

Parul Chaudhary is an outstanding sports player from Uttar Pradesh. She is based in Iklauta village near Meerut. During her teenage years, Parul ran and completed the 800-metre race barefoot in 2011. She eventually ran 1500m, 3000m, and 5000m. Parul specializes in steeplechase events of 5000 meters and 3000 meters. Parul is the first Indian runner to record a sub-9-minute time in the women’s 3000m. 

In Bangkok, Parul won a gold medal in women’s 3000m steeplechase in the Asian Athletics Championships. She qualified for the Paris Olympics because of her national record in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9:15.31 at the World Athletics Championships conducted in Budapest. Parul won a gold medal in the 5000m and a Silver medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the Hangzhou Asian Games in October 2023. 

Annu Rani

Annu Rani Dharayan is an Indian Javelin Thrower based in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. She was born and raised in Bahadurpur village. Annu crafted her first javelin stick from bamboo herself because she couldn’t afford one. She is the first Indian woman to reach the World Athletics Champions in Doha in the final women’s javelin throw event. 

Her best shot at javelin throw is 63.24m which got her a gold in the National Interstate Athletic Championship, Patiala, 2021. She curated history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a bronze at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022. She is also the first Indian to bag a gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 at Hangzhou. 

Jyothi Yarraji

Jyothi Yarraji, a field athlete from Andhra Pradesh, is India’s top 100m hurdler and the national record holder. She first broke the long-standing record on clocking 13.23 seconds and has progressed since then. 

Despite a challenging 2021 due to COVID-19 and injury, Jyothi made a strong comeback, winning a gold medal at the 2022 National Games and a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. In 2023, she further broke records in the 60m indoor hurdles for 5 times, showing her strength on both national and international levels. Apart from this, she also aced in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships at Astana in Kazakhstan in 2023, winning a silver medal. 

Kishore Jena

Kishore Kumar Jena is a track athlete with expertise in Javelin Throw. He belongs to a farmer’s family hailing from Kothasahi village in Puri district of Odisha. He was previously a volleyball player. He has worked at the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in Bhopal since 2018.

At the National Championships in Bhubaneswar in 2023, Kishore bagged a silver medal. In the same year, in July, he clenched his second-best throw in Diyagama, Sri Lanka, with a record of 84.38m. The next best throw was 84.77m at the final at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. With a new record of 87.54m, Kishore won a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. 

Jeswin Aldrin

Jeswin Aldrin is a long jumper from Tamil Nadu, India. His national record of long jump stands at 8.42m. Jeswin qualified for the 2022 World Athletics Championships but could not qualify for the finals. He qualified for the finals in the 12th and last position at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. 

These talented players were a part of the Paris Olympics 2024 and are budding sports influencers who have quite a way to go!