Credit: X
In a historic event, 17-year-old Himanshu Jakhar clinched a gold medal in boys' javelin throw at the 2025 U-18 Asian Athletics Championship in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Jakhar, who is inspired by Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra's humility, is looking forward to following the path and achieving success in the javelin throw game. Hailing from Salahwas village in Jhajjar district of Haryana, Jakhar successfully reached the top spot after with a 67.57 meter throw, leaving People’s Republic of China’s Lu Hao (63.45m) and Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Sadullaev (61.96m) behind. With this win, Jakhar becomes the first young Indian athlete to win gold medal in the javelin throw at the Asian U-18 Athletics Championships.
This win also helped Indian athletes to clinch 11 medals in the tournament, including one gold, five silver, and five bronze. Meanwhile, Minister of Industry and Supply of India, Piyush Goyal congratulated Himanshu Jakhar for this historical win. Taking on his official X account, Goyal wrote, "A shining example of Bharat’s athletic brilliance… 🇮🇳🥇Kudos to Himanshu Jakhar for bringing home India’s first-ever gold in the Men’s Javelin Throw at the U18 Asian Athletics Championships. Your triumph is a beacon of inspiration for young athletes across the nation. May this GOLD be the beginning of many more glorious milestones in your journey. Best wishes!
“My next target is Khelo India Youth Games and then Junior Nationals," Himanshu Jakhar
Himanshu Jakhar, who achieved his personal best of 74.56m with the 700g javelin at the National Junior Athletics Championships in December 2024, has set his sights on the upcoming Khelo India Youth Games in Bihar, scheduled to take place from May 4 to May 15. “My next target is now to attract the talent scouts at the Khelo India Youth Games and then Junior Nationals,” the teenager stated.
Sharing his experience to claim the gold medal, Himanshu said, “It has been a wonderful experience to be able to win gold for the country ,but it was a lot of hard work along with my coaches to reach this far.”
“I have been training at the SAI Centre in Hisar under coach Arvind since the last two three years and with better coaching, better equipment, better ground and gym etc, I was able to make the country proud.”
The upcoming Khelo India Youth Games 2025 are set to be held across five cities in India- Patna, Rajgir, Gaya, Bhagalpur and Begusarai.
List of Indian medallists won in U-18 Asian Athletics Championships
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Himanshu - gold medal in boys’ javelin throw
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Devak Bhushan - silver medal in boys’ high jump
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Nitin Gupta - silver medal in boys’ 5000m race walk
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Tannu - silver medal in girls’ 400m
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Nischay - silver medal in boys’ shot put
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Chiranth P, Sayed Sabeer, Saket Minj and Kadir Khan - silver medal in boys’ medley relay
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Nischay - bronze medal in boys’ discus throw
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Aarti - bronze medal in girls’ 100m
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Aarti - bronze medal in girls’ 200m
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Shourya Ambure - bronze medal in the girls’ 100m hurdles
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Lakshita Mahlawat - bronze medal in girls’ discus throw
