THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Quarter-milers Amoj Jacob and Priya Mohan shared the limelight with long jumpers Jeswin Aldrin and Ancy Sojan in the Indian Grand Prix 1 Athletics Meet at the Chandrasekharan Nair Police Stadium here on Sunday.
Delhi's Jacob broke into the lead by the halfway mark and beat back challenge from Noah Nirmal Tom of Kerala in a keenly-fought men's 400m while Karnataka's Priya was an easy winner of the women's event that heralded the start of the track season in the country.
Amlan Borgohain of Assam and Tamil Nadu's S Dhanalakshmi were comfortable winners in the men's and women's 200m respectively.
It was a personal best for Dhanalakshmi who won in 23.21 seconds, improving on the 23.24 she clocked in Moodbidri in 2018. She beat Hima Das (23.45) to second place, holding on to the slight edge that she got due to a good start.
Long Jumpers Jeswin Aldrin of Tamil Nadu and Ancy Sojan of Kerala as well as shot putter Abha Khatua ensured that athletes competing in the field events would not be left behind as they logged their personal bests.
The 20-year-old Aldrin joined an elite bunch of men's jumpers who have breached the 8m mark with an 8.20m effort.
National record holder long jumper M Sreeshankar, who is participating in the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade later this month, did not take part in the IGP 1 after making an entry.
In women's long jump, Ancy Sojan leapt 6.55m for a personal best, going past the 6.51m she logged last fortnight in the National Open Jumps Competition. She did not have anyone challenging her, nailing the gold medal on her third attempt.
