Asian U20 silver medallist, Nitin Gupta, is the first Indian to break 19 minutes for 5,000m race walk.

Nitin Gupta became the first Indian race walker to break the 19 minutes barrier in junior men’s 5,000m race walk. On his way to winning the gold medal, he clocked 18:54.37, lowering his own national record of 19:24.48 set last year in Patna. His Saturday’s performance was also better than the Asian U20 Athletics Championships.

The Army’s talented race walker has been impressive over a wide range of distances in the 2025 season. His main goal this year will be to improve the colour of the medal at the next month’s Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong. The Indian race walker will be one of the medal contenders at the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene in August.

Ranjana Yadav of Madhya Pradesh also improved the national record in the women’s 5,000m race walk. Her gold-winning time was 23:22.12. The previous record of 23:43.58 was set by Manisha last year in Bhubaneswar.

EOM