India is gearing up for an exciting athletics week as the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships are scheduled to take place at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar (Odisha), from June 24-28, 2026.

Here are the event-wise top women athletes to watch:

100m

The field is packed with talent. Athletes to watch include Sneha S S, the veteran sprinter who has consistently challenged younger competitors over the years; Harita Bhadra, India’s Indoor Champion, who clocked India’s second-fastest time of the season (11.55s) in her last competition; and Giridharani Ravikumar, who leads the national season rankings with 11.45s.

Sudheshna Shivankar has also impressed this season, registering a lifetime best of 11.56s, the third-fastest time in India this year. Other names to watch include Nithya Gandhe, Jilna M V, Abinaya Rajarajan, and several emerging sprinters.

400m

Although this event is yet to produce something extraordinary this season, the field remains packed with elite athletes.

Kiran Pahal, India’s all-time second-fastest quarter-miler, recently clocked 52.89s, the second-fastest time by an Indian this season. She will face strong competition from Ansa Babu, who has been remarkably consistent and registered a lifetime best of 52.94s, India’s third-fastest time this year.

Rashdeep Kaur, who has also posted a personal best this season and impressed in relay races, will be another athlete to watch. Additionally, U20 national record holder Neeru Pathak could spring a surprise.

100m Hurdles – Jyothi Yarraji

India’s hurdle queen Jyothi Yarraji is set to make her comeback after a lengthy injury layoff. The Interstate Championships will mark her season opener and serve as an Asian Games qualifier.

The reigning Asian champion stunned everyone at the Asian Athletics Championships by winning gold in 12.96s. She will be targeting the Asian Games qualification mark of 13.34s.

India’s only sub-13-second women’s hurdler and silver medallist from the previous Asian Games recently told NNIS Sports: “I will be looking to post another PB. I am back and better.”

400m Hurdles – Vithya Ramraj

India’s 400m hurdles national record holder, jointly with P.T. Usha, will be one of the biggest attractions at the championships.

Vithya has clocked 56.61s this season and will be aiming to go below the 56-second mark again. Her personal best stands at 55.42s, set in 2023. It has been almost two years since she last ran sub-56 seconds, something she will be eager to change at this meet.

Her form has been encouraging, having also clocked 52.22s in the flat 400m, currently India’s fastest time this season.

High Jump – Pooja

Pooja, India’s U20 High Jump national record holder and newly crowned senior national record holder, will be in action at the Interstate Championships.

She broke the U20 national record multiple times before producing a historic clearance of 1.93m — the highest jump ever by an Indian woman and a new senior national record.

Pooja has already achieved the qualification standard for the World U20 Championships and has also been named in India’s squad for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Long Jump – Ancy Sojan

2026 Federation Cup champion Ancy Sojan produced one of the standout performances of the season while chasing the Commonwealth Games qualification standard.

She leapt a lifetime best of 6.75m, making her India’s third-best long jumper of all time. The Asian Games 2023 silver medallist will certainly be one of the athletes to watch in Bhubaneswar.

Other contenders in the event include Pavana Nagaraj, Mubassina, and Shaili Singh, ensuring an exciting battle in the sand pit.

An exciting week for Indian athletics as the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships begin tomorrow at the iconic Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar (Odisha), from June 24-28, 2026.

The five-day Category ‘B’ competition is a qualification event for the 2026 Asian Games. Athletes from across the country have travelled to Bhubaneswar in a bid to punch their tickets to Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

Around 700 athletes will be in action over five days at Kalinga Stadium. Here, NNIS Sports presents the event-wise athletes and rivalries to look out for.

100m

After Gurindervir Singh’s iconic 10.09s run, which shattered the Indian national record, the men’s 100m has become a fan favourite. Although India’s fastest man will be missing this competition, there are still plenty of names capable of delivering a thrilling contest.

Animesh Kujur: India’s all-time second-fastest man and one of Gurindervir’s biggest rivals, Animesh Kujur will compete in both the 100m and 200m at his home ground, Kalinga Stadium. At the Federation Cup, Gurindervir first broke the national record in the semifinals before Animesh snatched the title minutes later, clocking a lifetime best 10.15s to become India’s second-fastest man ever. Although Gurindervir reclaimed the title of India’s fastest man later, Animesh will now be looking to reclaim the spotlight in front of his home crowd.

Manikanta H: India’s most consistent 100m sprinter and a former national record holder, Manikanta is making his comeback after an injury early in the season. His lifetime best of 10.19s makes him India’s third-fastest man ever. He will be targeting the Asian Games qualification mark of 10.16s.

Other names to watch include last year’s Federation Cup champion Pranav Gurav (10.27s), reigning Interstate champion Tamil Arasu S (10.22s PB), along with Nuzrat, Harjit, Lalu Bhoi and Ragul Kumar.

400m

The field is packed with elite quarter-milers aiming for Asian Games qualification and a place in India’s 4x400m relay squad.

Vishal T K: India’s first and only sub-45-second runner, Vishal stunned the athletics fraternity at the Federation Cup by clocking 44.98s and becoming the first Indian to break the 45-second barrier. While the Asian Games qualification mark of 45.97s looks achievable, the quality of the field could push him towards another national record or at least another sub-45 performance.

Rajesh Ramesh: One of India’s most consistent quarter-milers, Rajesh remains best remembered for his heroic anchor leg at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. At the Federation Cup, while Vishal grabbed the headlines, Rajesh’s frustration was visible after the race. This season, he has already clocked a personal best of 45.26s and will be looking to improve further. Can he become the next Indian to go sub-45? The rivalry between Vishal and Rajesh could elevate Indian 400m standards even further.

Other athletes to watch include Dharamveer Choudhary, who has posted multiple personal bests this season, Vikrant Panchal, Manu T S, Barath S, and Theerthesh Shetty.

110m Hurdles

Tejas Shirse recently proved once again why he is India’s hurdle king, lowering the national record to 13.27s. However, there are challengers ready to push him.

Krishik M: The 22-year-old has often pushed Tejas in recent competitions and has improved to a massive lifetime best of 13.44s this season, making him India’s second-fastest hurdler ever. He will be looking to challenge the national record holder once again at India’s premier domestic athletics competition.

Other athletes to watch include Madhvendra Shekhawat, Manav R and Muhammed Lazan. The Asian Games qualification standard stands at 13.63s.

400m Hurdles

This is one event not to be missed, with India’s top three hurdlers — Santhosh T, Yashas Palaksha and Jabir M — set to clash.

At Indian Series-6, all three athletes went sub-50 seconds in the same competition for the first time. At the Federation Cup, Yashas stunned Santhosh by clocking 49.00s to win the title and register India’s second-fastest time ever. Santhosh followed closely with 49.06s, now India’s third-fastest time ever.

Can either athlete finally dip below 49 seconds? With the national record of 48.80s held by Dharun Ayyasamy, the mark could be under serious threat.

High Jump

Sarvesh Kushare and Aadarsh Ram will once again renew their rivalry.

Sarvesh cleared 2.28m last season, India’s second-highest clearance ever, and finished sixth at the 2025 World Championships. This season, Aadarsh responded with a 2.27m jump, making him India’s third-best performer of all time.

Can either athlete challenge the national record of 2.29m? Based on current form, it certainly looks possible.

Pole Vault

A year ago, few would have believed India could have Asian Games contenders in men’s pole vault. This season, that has changed.

Dev Meena and Kuldeep Kumar have taken Indian pole vaulting to a new level.

Dev matched his lifetime best of 5.40m early in the season before Kuldeep cleared 5.41m at the Indoor Nationals to set a new national record. Dev responded by clearing 5.45m at the Federation Cup, only for Kuldeep to match the same height later. Both now jointly hold the national record at 5.45m — a height that also meets the Asian Games qualification standard.

Notably, no Indian male pole vaulter has ever qualified for the Asian Games through such standards before. Can they do it again at the Interstate Championships and perhaps raise the national record further?

Another athlete to watch is Reegan Ganesh, who has cleared 5.35m this season, India’s third-best performance ever.

Long Jump

Five Indian athletes have already breached the 8m mark this season, including two first-time achievers, making this arguably the most competitive long jump field in Interstate history.

All five — Murali Sreeshankar (8.15m SB), Shahnavaz Khan (8.23m), David P (8.22m), Lokesh Sathyanathan (8.21m), and Jithin R C (8.12m) — will be in action.

Adding further excitement is national record holder Jeswin Aldrin (8.41m), along with other contenders such as Mohd Sazid, Sunny and Purushotham.

Javelin Throw

One of India’s most anticipated events is set to deliver another exciting battle.

The field includes Rohit Yadav, who recently registered a lifetime best of 83.76m, Yashvir Singh (82.93m PB), Shivam Lohakare (81.71m PB) and Arshdeep Singh (80.15m PB) this season.

With several athletes in career-best form and Asian Games qualification on the line, the men’s javelin competition promises to be one of the highlights of the championships.

India’s women’s 4x100m relay team produced a superb performance to clinch the gold medal at the Asian Relays 2026, continuing the country’s strong tradition in sprint relays on the continental stage.

The quartet of Srabani Nanda, Sneha S S, Sudheshna Shivankar and Tamanna combined brilliantly to clock a season-best 43.85 seconds, finishing ahead of a strong field to secure the top spot on the podium.

The victory was made even more impressive by the fact that the Indian team ran faster than it did while winning silver at the previous edition of the Asian Relays. Last year, the Indian quartet had finished second with a time of 43.86 seconds, making this year’s gold-medal-winning performance marginally quicker.

China finished second to claim the silver medal in 44.09 seconds, while Thailand took bronze after clocking 44.11 seconds in a closely contested race.

The result is a significant boost for Indian women’s sprinting and highlights the growing depth in the country’s relay programme. The team’s ability to deliver a season-best performance on a major international stage reflects both strong individual form and effective baton exchanges, often the decisive factor in relay racing.

For Srabani Nanda, Sneha S S, Sudheshna Shivankar and Tamanna, the gold medal represents a major achievement and provides valuable momentum ahead of the busy international season, which includes key qualification events and major championships.

By finishing ahead of both China and Thailand, India not only secured the gold medal but also sent out a strong statement about its ambitions in women’s sprint relays on the continental stage.

Bureau Report

India endured a disappointing campaign at the Asian Relays 2026, with both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams failing to finish on the podium despite entering the competition with high expectations.

The women’s team finished fourth, missing out on a medal as Vietnam clinched gold in 3:31.16. China secured silver with 3:32.68, while Kazakhstan claimed bronze after clocking a personal best of 3:33.87.

The men’s team fared even worse, finishing fifth in a race won by Vietnam, whose quartet produced a personal best of 3:02.60. China took silver in 3:03.23, while Sri Lanka completed the podium with 3:03.33.

The results raise uncomfortable questions for Indian athletics, particularly given the level of support available to the country’s relay programmes.

India’s relay athletes benefit from year-round training at the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Trivandrum, work under foreign coaches and receive extensive support through the Sports Authority of India’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). Yet despite access to infrastructure, coaching and funding that many Asian nations can only aspire to, India failed to secure a medal in either relay event.

Some observers may point out that the men’s team was not India’s strongest possible combination and could be viewed as a second-string squad.

That argument, however, becomes harder to make in the women’s event.

Under the Athletics Federation of India’s current campers-only selection policy, the relay squad was effectively the best available combination from the national camp system. If the athletes selected from the country’s premier training setup were unable to reach the podium at the continental level, it raises larger questions about the effectiveness of the current high-performance structure.

The performances also come at a time when several Asian nations are making significant strides in relay running. Vietnam’s gold medals in both men’s and women’s events underline the rapid progress being made by countries that have traditionally not been considered relay powerhouses.

For India, the Asian Relays were expected to be a stepping stone towards bigger targets such as the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Instead, the competition has highlighted the gap that still exists between investment and results.

Bureau Report

Indian sprint sensation and national record holder Gurindervir Singh is set to miss the upcoming Interstate Athletics Championships 2026, a competition that also serves as a key qualification event for the 2026 Asian Games.

The 25-year-old’s name is notably absent from the Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) bib list released ahead of the championships, ruling him out of the country’s most important domestic athletics meet of the season.

Gurindervir has been enjoying a breakthrough year. Earlier this season, he etched his name into the history books by clocking a stunning 10.09 seconds in the men’s 100m, becoming the first Indian athlete ever to break the 10.10-second barrier. The performance also saw him rewrite the national record and cement his status as India’s fastest man.

Despite missing the Interstate Championships, Gurindervir has already secured qualification for the Commonwealth Games 2026 and has been included in India’s squad for Glasgow. His absence from the Asian Games qualification meet, however, will come as a disappointment for Indian athletics fans who were hoping to see the national record holder in action.

While he may not feature in the individual 100m at the Interstates, there remains hope that Gurindervir will be part of India’s men’s 4x100m relay plans later in the season.

The Indian relay team will be targeting the Asian Games qualification standard of 38.81 seconds, a mark that appears well within reach based on recent performances. Last season, the Indian quartet clocked faster than the qualification standard in all three of their major outings, emerging as one of Asia’s most promising sprint relay teams.

Gurindervir, alongside fellow sprint star Animesh Kujur, played a crucial role in those performances, providing India with explosive starts and strong relay legs against quality international competition.

By Sushant Singh

India’s mixed 4×100m relay team secured a bronze medal at the Asian Relays Championships 2026, finishing with a time of 41.47 seconds.

Pranav provided a solid start, while Tamanna and Animesh kept India in contention, with the team leading heading into the final exchange. However, a delayed baton handover between Animesh and anchor runner Sneha cost valuable time, allowing Thailand and China to move ahead in the closing stages.

Thailand claimed the gold medal in 41.14 seconds, followed by China with 41.29 seconds, while India completed the podium with a bronze-winning effort of 41.47 seconds.

Bureau Report

Asian Relays Championships 2026 | June 20–21

After a Federation Cup that produced national records in sprints, pole vault, and high jump, the spotlight now shifts to the track’s most collective discipline — the relay. India’s relay teams are set for action across two days at the Asian Relays Championships 2026, with mixed, men’s, and women’s squads all competing for continental honours.

The Schedule (All Timings IST)

Saturday, June 20

• 4x100m Relay Mixed Final — 4:40 PM
• 4x400m Relay Mixed Final — 6:05 PM

Sunday, June 21

• 4x100m Women’s Relay Final — 4:50 PM
• 4x400m Women’s Relay Final — 6:00 PM
• 4x400m Men’s Relay Final — 6:17 PM

Five finals. Two days. A packed and high-stakes relay calendar for Team India.

The Squads

Men’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m

India’s men’s quarter-mile stocks run deep, with eight athletes named across the pool for these events: Theerthesh P Shetty, Avinash Kumar, Setu Mishra, Nihal William, S Santhosh, Rince Joseph, Suraj Alagar Raja, Mohit Kumar, and Barath Sridhar. With this much depth on the roster, India’s selectors have options to fine-tune their strongest possible combination for both the standalone men’s final and the mixed relay.

Mixed 4x100m

A compact trio anchors India’s mixed sprint relay effort: Animesh Kujur, Harsh Santosh Raut, and Pranav Gaurav. Kujur arrives with serious pedigree — having recently broken the national 100m record at Federation Cup with a blistering 10.15s. His sprint speed could prove decisive in what is traditionally one of the most unpredictable relay formats on the circuit.

Women’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m

India’s women’s quarter-mile group is stacked with experience and emerging talent: Rashdeep Kaur, MR Poovamma, Ansa Babu, Vijaykumari GK, Saloni Nagar, Neeru Pathak, Subha Venkatesan, and Gowrinandana. The inclusion of MR Poovamma — one of Indian athletics’ most decorated relay campaigners — brings invaluable big-stage experience to a squad otherwise blending fresh faces into the mix.

Women’s 4x100m & Mixed 4x100m

India’s sprint relay hopes rest with Nithya Gandhe, Tamanna, Sneha SS, Sudeshna Shivankar, and Srabani Nanda. Srabani Nanda’s experience at the international level adds composure to a sprint unit that will need slick exchanges to compete with the continent’s fastest nations.

Why the Relays Matter

Relay events carry a unique weight in athletics — they are tests of speed, yes, but also of precision, trust, and team chemistry. A single fumbled baton exchange can undo months of individual training in a fraction of a second. For India, a nation that has produced increasingly competitive individual sprinters and quarter-milers in 2026, the relay events are where that talent must come together as one unit against Asia’s best.

With strong individual performances already on the board this season — national records in the 100m, depth in the 400m, and rising sprint talent across the board — India’s relay squads arrive in good spirits and even better form.

Time to Cheer

Two days. Five finals. Squads built on a blend of seasoned campaigners and hungry newcomers. India’s baton-carriers are ready to take on the continent’s finest.

Get behind Team India as the Asian Relays Championships 2026 gets underway.

By Sushant Singh

One of India’s elite javelin throwers has been terminated, while several other athletes have been suspended in what has been officially described as a “Performance-Enhancing Drug Incident” at the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics HPC (Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar).
Multiple sources revealed to NNIS Sports that the javelin thrower has been terminated from the centre, while a 400m hurdler and a decathlete have been charged and suspended.

The same centre is set to host the Inter-State Athletics Championships in a couple of days, which will serve as a qualifying event for the upcoming Asian Games 2026. The HPC is one of India’s premier athletics training centres and has trained several top athletes, including India’s current 200m national record holder and one of the country’s fastest men, Animesh Kujur.

During its investigation, NNIS Sports learned that the incident occurred around a month ago, following which the athletes involved were immediately suspended. However, days later, the javelin thrower was allegedly involved in another act of misconduct, which ultimately led to his termination from the centre.