Rupal Chaudhary made history by becoming the first Indian athlete to win two medals at the World U20 Athletics Championship, after winning silver in the 4x400m relay and bronze in the women’s 400m.
Her father is a small-time farmer in Shahpur Jainpur village in UP’s Meerut district, and she comes from a modest family. The 17-year-old has been in incredible form, having run four 400m races in three days.
Won silver as part of 4x400m relay quartet
On August 4 night, Rupal finished third in 51.85 seconds, trailing Yemi Mary John (51.50) of the United Kingdom and Damaris Mutunga (51.71) of Kenya. On August 2, she won silver as part of the 4x400m relay quartet that finished second behind the USA in 3:17.76s, an Asian junior record. On the same day, she competed in her individual 400m first round heat before moving on to the semi-finals and finals on August 3 and August 4, respectively.
She ran her personal best time twice during the championships, first in the semi-finals with a 52.27s and then again in the final.
Rupal stunned pre-race favourite Priya Mohan of Karnataka earlier this year to win gold in the women’s 400m at the National U-20 Federation Cup Athletics Championships here on August 5.
Second Indian to win a medal in women’s 400m
Rupal is the second Indian to win a medal in the women’s 400m, following Hima Das, who won a historic gold medal in Finland in 2018 with a time of 51.46s.
Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic champion javelin thrower, was the first Indian to win gold at the championships in Poland in 2016.
Rupal’s bronze medal is India’s ninth overall from the championships, which were previously known as the World Junior Championships. India won three medals in the previous edition in Nairobi in 2021 — two silver and one bronze.
