India's Panwar wins silver in men's 5000m race walk at Youth Olympics
Buenos Aires, Oct 16 : India's Suraj Panwar clinched a silver in men's 5000m race walk event in the ongoing Youth Olympic Games to open the country's medal account in athletics here.
Panwar won the stage 2 competition by clocking 20 minutes and 35.87 seconds on Monday night but finished second overall.
In a new format, there are no finals in track and field (with the exception of 4km cross-country) in the Youth Olympics and each event is held twice, with results from both rounds counting towards the final standings.
The 17-year-old Panwar had finished second in the first stage in 20.23.30s, behind Patin Oscar of Ecuador.
Oscar, who finished second in Stage 2, won the gold with timings of 20:13.69s and 20:38.17s.
Panwar's total time of 40:59.17s was over seven minutes slower than Oscar's 40:51.86s. Puerto Rico's Jan Moreu finished third to claim the bronze.
This is India's first athletics medal in this edition and third overall. Arjun (men's discus throw) and Durgesh Kumar (men's 400m hurdles) had won a silver each in the inaugural edition in 2010.
"It's a great feeling. I am very happy to have won a medal. I had put in a lot of hard work for the Games. It is my first medal for India," Panwar said after winning the silver medal.
"My next target is to better my performance here and win a medal in the senior level also," he added.
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I am back home: All England missed, Sindhu lands back in Bengaluru from Dubai
Bengaluru (PTI): Two-time Olympic medal-winning Indian badminton star P V Sindhu, who was stranded in Dubai due to closure of airspace in the Gulf region, has returned to the country after pulling out of the All England Championships in Birmingham.
Sindhu posted on X to announce that she is back in the city.
"Back home in Bangalore and safe. The last few days have been intense and uncertain, but I'm truly grateful to be back to my house," she posted.
"A heartfelt thank you to the incredible ground teams, Dubai authorities, airport staff, immigration, and every single person who stepped up and took such good care of us during a very difficult time. The empathy and professionalism meant more than words can say.
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"For now, it's time to rest, reset, and figure out the next steps," she added.
The former world champion was on her way to Birmingham via Dubai, when she was stranded after the flight operations were suspended in the Gulf region following the US and Israeli bombing of Iran.
Iran subsequently retaliated, hitting Dubai as well.
"Moments like these remind you how fragile normal life really is," she had posted on February 28 while revealing some details of her ordeal, which included an explosion near her place of stay.
She had described the experience as "extremely tense and scary moment" for her and her team, including Indonesian coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama.
