Bharatsinh wins gold in 10,000 metres

Vikram Bharatsinh of Madhya Pradesh won gold in men's 10,000 metres on the opening day of the National Inter State Athletics Championships here on Friday.

Bharatsinh clocked 30 minutes 16.44 seconds to win the gruelling 25-lap race in the morning session.

Bharatsinh's winning time of 30 minutes 16.44 seconds was slower than the Tokyo Olympic qualification time of 27 minutes 28 seconds.

Kartik Kumar of Uttar Pradesh won silver with a time of 30 minutes 25.79 secs while Dinesh of Maharashtra clocked 30 minutes 50.74 secs to take home the bronze medal.

In a field of nine athletes, Bharatsinh shot into the lead half-way through the 10,000m race.  With five laps to go, Bharatsinh became a clear winner as his nearest rival Kumar from Uttar Pradesh started to slow down.

The gap between Bharatsinh and Kumar widened in the last two laps, with the former comfortably winning the gold in 30 mins 16.44 secs.

The women's 5,000m race was the second event of the morning session, but Uttar Pradesh runner Parul Chaudhary's gold winning performance of 16 minutes 04.7 seconds fell short of the Olympic qualification time of 15 minutes 10 seconds.

Komal Chandrakant Jagadale of Maharashtra, who battled with Parul in the initial stages of the 5,000m, faded away in the last 1000m to finish second with a time of 16 mins 26.89 secs.

Ankita of Uttarakhand was third with a time of 16 mins 58.07 secs.

The participation in the women's 5,000m was thin. Only six runners took the field while Jyoti dropped out in the first 1000 metres.