THIS IS JUST BEGINNING, SAYS HIMA DAS AS PRIYA MOHAN FINISHES 4TH IN WOMEN’S 400M FINAL

Ace sprinter Hima Das lavished praise on Priya Mohan after the Indian athlete came up with a personal best time of 52.77 seconds in the women’s 400m final in the World Athletics U20 Championships.

However, Priya was beaten to the podium by Kenya’s Sylvia Chelangat by 0.54 seconds on Saturday. Priya’s time was an improvement on her previous best of 53.29 seconds she registered in winning the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Patiala on June 28. Hima termed it as a “great start” and said this is just a beginning and Priya has a long way to go.

“Amazing finish by Priya Mohan with 52.77s time with 4th position in the Women’s 400m finals of #WorldAthleticsU20 Great start Priya, this is just a beginning and long way to go,” Hima Das tweeted.

Also, India’s Amit Khatri bravely overcame breathing difficulties to claim a silver medal in the men’s 10000m Race Walk in the World Athletics U20 Championships.

It was India’s second medal in the Championships after the bronze won by the 4x400m Mixed Relay team on Wednesday. Amit Khatri, who kept pace in the leading group much of the time and took the lead at the 9000m mark, clocked 42:17.94 to finish behind Kenya’s Heristone Wanyoni (41:10.84).

His frequent visits to the refreshment table to get water – especially the last one with just a lap and a half to go for the finish – could have led him to covering more distance and missing gold.

Amit, who split the leader including Dmitri Durand (France) and Dmitry Wanyonyi (Authorised Neutral Athlete) with a strong move, was content with silver, having found the cool conditions and Nairobi’s thin air rather challenging. “At some point in the race I couldn’t breathe properly but I am happy,” the AFI quoted Amit as saying.