World U20 Athletics Championship 2021: Amit Khatri bags silver in Men’s 10,000m Race Walk

Indian Athlete Amit Khatri brings home the silver medal for India after finishing second at the Men’s 10,000m Race Walk. He finished the race with a timing of 42 minutes 17:94 seconds behind gold-medalist Haristome Wanyoyi and ahead of third-placed Paul McGrath of Spain. The gold and bronze medal winners finished the race with a time of 42:10.84s and 42:31.11s respectively. Amit led the entire race, before losing focus with two laps to go and getting passed by Kenya’s Wanyoyi. 

India's first-ever silver medal and the sixth medal overall in the U20 Worlds

The Sports Authority of India put out a tweet as soon as India won the silver on Saturday. In the tweet, SAI Media congratulated the athlete for his lion-hearted effort for finishing the race with a time of 42:17.94. SAI Media also mentioned that this is the first time India has won a medal in Race Walking and two medals in a single edition of the Championships. India earlier won the bronze medal in the 4x400m Mixed event by finishing third behind Nigeria and Poland. The Indian quartet of Bharat Sridhar, Priya Mohan, Summy, and Kapil clocked a time of 3:20.60 seconds in their debut at the U20 Worlds. Meanwhile, India's Shaili Singh qualified for the Wome's long jump finals on Friday.

Amit expressed himself while talking to the media after the race. As reported by Indian Express, he said, “As it’s (Nairobi almost 2000 meters) a high altitude so breathing problem for me. It was my first international competition and I won silver for India. I’m happy that at least I could fulfill the hopes of India. Amit’s medal was India’s first-ever silver medal in the U20 Worlds and the sixth medal for India in the Championship’s history. Previous medal winners for India include Neeraj Chopra’s gold in Javelin throw in 2012 in Poland, Hima Das’ gold in Women’s 400m in 2018 in Finland, Seema Antil’s bronze medal in Women’s discus throw in 2002 in Kingston, and Navjeet Kau Dhillon’s bronze medal in Women’s discus throw in 2014 in the USA. The World AthleticsChampionship 2021 is taking place in Nairobi, Kenya from August 17 to 22.

(Image Source: NitinArya99-Twitter)