World University Games: India wins bronze in women's 20km race walk team

Representational Image (Pic: AFP)

India bagged a bronze medal in the women's 20km race walk team event at the World University Games here on Saturday.

The quartet of Pooja Kumawat, Nikita Lamba, Mansi Negi, and Priyanka finished with a time of 5:12:13 to clinch the final spot on the podium.

China (4:52:02) and Slovakia (5:05:36) claimed the gold and silver medal respectively.

While India and China fielded four athletes each in the event, the timings of the best three are considered while calculating the final time.

Priyanka was India's best race-walker as she was ranked third with a time of 1:40:39.

Also Read: India's compound mixed team bags gold at World University Games

Meanwhile, star Indian athlete Jyothi Yarraji bettered her own national record time and won India's first-ever 100m hurdles medal -- a bronze on Friday. The 23-year-old clocked 12.78, as compared to her previous record of 12.82 seconds which she had achieved in October 2022, to finish third in the women's 100m hurdles final.

Viktoria Forster of Slovakia won the gold medal, clocking 12.72, while Yanni Wu of China took the silver with a time of 12.76.

Another national record holder sprinter, Amlan Borgohain also won India's first ever 200m medal at the World University Games as he picked a bronze medal with a season's best time of 20.55 seconds. The 25-year-old missed his own national record of 20.52 by a whisker.

Indian athletics' first medal at the World University Games came in the 2013 edition in Kazan, Russia, where shot putter Inderjeet Singh won a silver. Inderjeet went on to win a gold in the 2015 edition in Gwangju, South Korea.

In the 2017 edition in Taipei, Sanjivani Jadhav won a silver in 10,000m race before Dutee Chand clinched a 100m gold in 2019 in Naples, Italy.

(With agency inputs)