Athlete Sudha Singh on Monday clinched a silver in women’s 3000m steeplechase event at the Asian Games in Jakarta. The veteran Indian long distance runner is bringing home her second Asian Games medal, clocking an outstanding timing of 9 minute 40.03 seconds.
While Sudha settled for silver in track and field events, Winfred Yavi of Bahrain took the gold in 9:36.52 and Thi Oanh Nguyen of Vietnam bagged the bronze in 9:43.83.
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Sudha, 32, had won a gold medal at the Asian Games in Guangzhou eight years ago in 2010 when women’s 3000m steeplechase was introduced. Her career's personal best is 9:26.55 came in limelight while her season’s best is 9:39.59 which she came up with during the National Inter-State Championships in June.
In 2016, Sudha smashed the national record in women’s 3000m steeplechase event to finish eighth in the second leg of the prestigious Diamond League Meet in Shanghai. She clocked 9 minute 26.55 seconds, in a running race in which runners must clear hurdles and water jumps. With this, she surpassed the existing national record of 9:27.09 which was set by Lalita Shivaji Babar at the 2016 Federation Cup.
For those of you who are not familiar with the sport, in Steeplechase athletes race with a group of competitors jumping diverse fences and ditch obstacles. Typically, a steeplechaser has to be a tough, determined athlete with exceptional force as the sport requires high energy.
Singh also won gold at the Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar in 2017. She is a two-time Olympian and flagbearer of the 3000m steeplechase.
In January this year, she topped the women's category of the Mumbai Marathon under tough conditions and she qualified for the Asian Games with a timing of 9:39.59, well above the Asian qualifying norm of 9:50.
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Earlier on Sunday, sprinter Hima Das had won a silver medal in the women`s 400m final, clocking 50.79 seconds. Speaking to ANI, Das said, "I am satisfied with my performance. I don`t think about medals. I just think of bettering my own time. I am happy I was able to better my mark. I am also thinking about Olympics (Tokyo Olympics 2020) like other athletes, will try to perform best for India."
Feature Image Credit: DNA
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