Annu Rani and Animesh shine to bag gold medals

SPRINTER Animesh Kujur stormed to victory in record time while javelin ace Annu Rani maintained her improved run with a golden performance on Day 4 of the 64th National Interstate Senior Athletics Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, here on Saturday.

- Chandra Prabhu @ Chennai

The National Record holder added to his reputation with a record run. He stopped the clock at a timing of 20.63 seconds, a mark that was marginally better than the previous meet record — 20.65s — set by him last year. It was Rani who dominated the proceedings first with a couple of throws over 60 metres in the women's javelin final. The Hangzhou Asian Games gold medal-list began with a throw of 61.05 metres, followed by two sub-60m efforts. She then finished with a 60.14m effort. However, no Indian is yet to qualify for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo via the direct qualification mark in the ongoing championships so far.