Karnataka’s Tamanna and Maharashtra’s Abhinandan Suryavanshi won the women’s and men’s U20 5000m titles at the ongoing 41st National Junior Athletics Championships 2026.
Tamanna claimed the women’s gold in a lifetime best of 17:27.85. Uttarakhand’s Roshni finished second in 17:35.71, while Madhya Pradesh’s Archita took bronze in 17:36.25. However, Tamanna’s winning time fell short of the previous edition’s mark. Sonam Parmar won that title in 17:20.98.
In the men’s U20 5000m, Abhinandan Suryavanshi secured gold in 14:32.08 after a thrilling finish. Uttar Pradesh’s Aakash followed closely with silver in 14:32.14. Rajasthan’s Rohit took bronze in 14:32.35. The top three athletes finished within just 0.27 seconds of each other. However, Abhinandan’s time remained well outside the meet record of 14:09.71, which Mohit set at the previous edition.
The Junior Nationals took place in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, for the last two editions. This year, the championships moved to Chennai. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium track has a reputation for speed. It has also hosted impressive performances in senior competitions. For example, Tamilarsu clocked 10.22 seconds in the 100m at the 2025 Inter-State Championships. Meanwhile, Vishal recorded 45.21 seconds in the 400m.
Both U20 5000m winners posted slower times than the previous edition’s champions. As a result, their performances have raised questions about the pace of the middle- and long-distance events.
However, it remains too early to draw firm conclusions. The championships still have 4.5 days and nine sessions to go. Therefore, the upcoming events will provide a clearer picture of the overall performance standards.