TN athletes shatter meet records, Dhanalakshmi bags gold on return

TAMIL Nadu athletes shone bright and ensured a brilliant start to the 64th Senior Inter-State Athletics Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Wednesday.

- CHANDRA PRABHU @Chennai

Dhanalakshmi Sekar (women's) and Tamil Arasu (men's) clinched gold in their respective 100-metre finals. Pole vaulters Reegan Ganesh and Gowtham M finished with a shared gold medal in the men's pole vault finals. Dhanalakshmi was banned for three years in 2022 for failing an out-of-competition dope test. She marked her comeback to a national senior level meet with a sensational run in the women's 100-metre final, clocking 11.36s. Young sprinter Abinaya Rajarajan, who is also from Tamil Nadu, finished second with a timing of 11.58 seconds.