India’s young athletes delivered one of the country’s most encouraging performances at the World Athletics U20 Championships 2026 in Eugene, Oregon, returning home with three medals, two silver and one bronze. More importantly, the championships showed that India’s junior athletics system is now producing athletes capable of competing consistently with the world’s best.

At the 2026 World U20 Athletics Championships, India finished 27th in the placing table with three medals, two silver and one bronze.

This is India’s second-best showing, behind the 2021 edition, in which the number of medals was the same: two silvers and one bronze. In 2021, Shaili Singh won silver in the women’s long jump, Amit won silver in the men’s 10,000m race walk, and India won bronze in the mixed 4x400m relay, while Indian athletes also recorded eight final appearances.

ASHISH YADAV LEADS THE CHARGE WITH JAVELIN SILVER

The standout Indian performance came from Ashish Yadav, who won silver in the men’s javelin throw.

His achievement carried special emotional significance for Indian athletics. Exactly ten years after Neeraj Chopra won the World U20 title in 2016, another Indian javelin thrower stood on the global podium. The young Indian thrower produced a best effort of 74.09m to finish on the podium.

The result reinforced India’s growing reputation as a global force in javelin throwing and highlighted the strength of the country’s junior throwing programme.

BASANT MEGHWAL CREATES HISTORY IN HIGH JUMP

India’s second silver medal came through Basant Meghwal in the men’s high jump.

Competing against a world-class field, Basant cleared crucial heights under pressure and stayed in contention for gold until the final stages of the event. His silver medal is the best-ever performance by an Indian male high jumper at the World U20 level and demonstrated the progress India has made in the vertical jumps.

Basant matched his lifetime best clearance of 2.21m to secure India’s second medal.

All three medal-winning athletes cleared the same height of 2.21m in the high jump. The medals were therefore decided on countback, based on the number of attempts taken at previous heights.

SHAHNAVAZ KHAN WINS BRONZE IN LONG JUMP

Shahnavaz Khan completed India’s medal tally by winning bronze in the men’s long jump, with a best jump of 7.84m at the World Athletics U20 Championships 2026.

This is India’s first-ever medal in the men’s long jump at the World U20 Championships. Although Shahnavaz entered the competition with a season-best jump of 8.30m, which was the second-best mark in the world this season, the result will surely serve as an important learning experience for the youngster for the future.

WOMEN’S 4X400M RELAY

India’s relay squads also produced noteworthy performances during the championships. The Indian team qualified for the World U20 final with 3:39.53s.

The women’s 4x400m relay team of Bhoomika Nehate, Tahura Khatun, Tanu, and Thiya Arumugam reached the final and finished 9th overall across all heats. Although the team finished last in the final, they clocked 3:45.28s at the World Athletics U20 Championships 2026.

A noteworthy individual performance came from 19-year-old quarter-miler Mohd. Ashfaq. The youngster produced three of the best races of his career in Eugene.

Ashfaq began his campaign by breaking the Indian U20 national record, clocking 45.81s in the 400m heats to qualify for the semifinals. In the semifinals, he produced another outstanding performance, finishing third in his race and ninth overall with 46.00s to secure a place in the world final.

In the final, against a strong field in which the gold, silver, and bronze medallists all clocked sub-45-second times, Ashfaq finished 8th in the men’s 400m final, clocking 46.20s.

DISAPPOINTMENTS

Along with these positives, India also had some disappointments.

Nitin Gupta, who had entered the competition as one of the strongest medal contenders based on his season-best and world-leading time of 18:54.37, was unable to reproduce that form in the final and missed out on the podium. He finished 6th in the men’s 5000m race walk, clocking 19:32.30s.

Another major disappointment came through Pooja, one of the country’s biggest medal hopes. She finished 7th in the women’s high jump final after failing to clear 1.87m, ending her campaign with a best clearance of 1.84m.