KOLKATA: Bengal athlete Rezoana Mallick Heena continues to go from strength to strength. The India quartermiler on Friday claimed the girls 400m gold medal in a record time at the fifth Asian Youth Athletics Championships at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The promising 16-year-old sprinter clocked 52.98 seconds, bettering the Asian record of 53.04 seconds. Her previous best of 53.22 seconds was in the fourth National Open 400m championships in March.
Running in third lane, the Indian was quick off the blocks. She surged ahead at the halfway stage, facing almost no challenge on the home straight and crossed the finish line in a national U-18 record time.
The youngster admitted it was a nervous start for her. "This was my first international competition," she said. "But I felt better once I stepped on the track and settled on the blocks," the newly-crowned Asian youth champion added.
"She (Rezoana) ran the final as planned. We are elated that she broke the 53-second barrier," Rezoana’s personal coach Arjun said.
India’s second gold of the day was won by Pooja in the girls’ high jump when she cleared the bar at 1.77m.
Navpreet Singh won silver in the boy’s 400m race in 47.71 seconds, while Ahinaya Rajarajan won silver in 100m dash with a time of 11.82 seconds. Arjun won India’s second silver of the day in boys’ javelin throw with a distance of 66.99m.
After four medals on the opening day, the Indian team added seven more medals, including two gold, three silver and two bronze to take the medals tally to 11.
