Indian Open U23 Athletics 2026: Full Schedule, Venue and Events in Jaipur

The Indian Open U23 Athletics 2026 competition takes place from 16 to 18 October at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has published the full schedule: 40 finals over three days, including the decathlon, the heptathlon and two half marathon race walks.

This is the sixth edition of the meet for athletes in the Under 23 age group. Below, therefore, you will find the day-by-day timetable of every final, the warm-up rounds worth watching, last year’s winners and where to follow the results. In addition, we will update this page with the medal winners each evening.

Indian Open U23 Athletics 2026 dates and venue

The competition runs from Friday 16 to Sunday 18 October 2026 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. AFI announced the schedule on its official website, and it is version 1.1, dated 29 September. As AFI notes, the organisers may still change it.

Each day starts at 6:00 AM with a distance race or a race walk. Most finals, meanwhile, are in the evening session, between 2:20 PM and 6:10 PM.

Day 1 schedule: Friday 16 October

Ten finals take place on the opening day. The 100m finals close the day, with the women at 5:20 PM and the men at 5:30 PM. Before that, the 100m and 400m heats and semi-finals fill the morning and afternoon.

The men’s decathlon also starts on Day 1 with the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m. In addition, the 1500m heats for men and women end the evening.

Day 2 schedule: Saturday 17 October

Day 2 is the busiest, with 13 finals. It opens with the men’s half marathon race walk at 6:00 AM. The 1500m finals follow in the late morning, and the hurdles and 400m finals come in quick succession after lunch.

The decathlon ends with the 1500m at 5:40 PM. Meanwhile, the women’s heptathlon covers its first four events: the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m.

Day 3 schedule: Sunday 18 October

The final day has 17 finals. Because of the field size, the men’s 5000m is run in three races and the men’s steeplechase in two. Places are decided on time across all the races.

The 200m, 800m and both 400m hurdles finals all fall between 3:30 PM and 4:50 PM. Then the heptathlon ends with the 800m, and the women’s steeplechase closes the competition at 6:10 PM.

Indian Open U23 2025: last year’s winners

The 5th edition took place in Warangal, Telangana, from 16 to 18 October 2025. These are the winners of ten finals, as listed on the World Athletics results page.

Two of those champions have since moved up to the senior stage. Sudeshna Shivankar ran in India’s women’s 4x100m relay final at the Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya. Mubassina Mohammed, meanwhile, won the long jump at the National Open Athletics Championships in New Delhi this month with 6.38m.

Why the Indian Open U23 Athletics 2026 meet matters

For many junior champions, the Under 23 years decide whether they make the jump to senior level. This meet, therefore, gives them a national final of their own, away from the senior stars. It also matters more this year, because Asia now has an Under 23 championship. At the inaugural Asian U23 Athletics Championships in Ordos, China, in July, India finished fourth with 16 medals (3 gold, 4 silver, 9 bronze).

Javelin thrower Anand Singh won gold in Ordos with a personal best of 80.57m. India also won the mixed and women’s 4x400m relays there. Results in Jaipur will show which young athletes can build on that.

Indian Open U23 Athletics 2026 results

After Jaipur, the junior season continues with the National Junior Athletics Championships 2026 in Chennai from 23 to 27 October. Results from the zone championships, such as the West Zone athletics 2026 results, are also on our site.