Khelo India Youth Games: Kerala tops athletics as Ancy Sojan outshines everyone

Kerala registered an impressive performance in athletics by winning 10 golds with Ancy Sojan emerging as the only triple gold medal winner of the event at the Khelo India Youth Games 2020 in Guwahati. Kerala pipped Haryana to grab the top spot in athletics with 18 medals in total. While Haryana bagged 29 medals, 11 more than Kerala, it lost the top spot by lagging behind with nine gold.

Ancy Sojan, who hails from Thrissur, won gold in the Girls Under-21 100m and the long jump and later combined with her teammates to win another gold in 4x100m relay. Sojan’s triple-gold haul pushed Kerala to the first position in athletics and fifth overall. Though she outshined everyone in track and field, Kerala’s dominance in athletics was limited to the performance of girls. Tamil Nadu finished on the third position in athletics with eight gold though it got the distinction of most number of medals (31) in the event. The southern state was followed by Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi with six gold each. 

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Maharashtra table topper

Maharashtra is currently leading the medal tally with 28 gold after it won two gold on January 15 while Haryana is the close second with 23 gold. Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are in a tough fight to claim the top-three spot as both have won 17 gold but the former has currently advantage of one silver over Delhi. Interestingly, both teams have 48 medals in total since Delhi has one more bronze than Uttar Pradesh.

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The third edition of Khelo India Youth Games for Under-17 age group (Boys & Girls) and Under-21 age group (Boys & Girls) in 20 sports disciplines is underway and will conclude on January 22. The objective is to help youngsters look forward to playing the mega competition in the same way as seniors look forward to participating and winning medals at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games or Olympic Games.

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