Sanjivani bags top spot in 10,000m event in Portland


Portland, June 10: Asian Championships bronze medallist runner Sanjivani Jadhav won the gruelling women’s 10,000m race at the Portland Track Festival High-Performance Meet, clocking a personal best time of 32:22.77 seconds here.
Portland has turned out to be a happy hunting ground for the 27-year-old long-distance runner, who had finished second in the event last year, registering 32:46.88 seconds, her first sub-33 mark.
Another Indian in the fray, Seema finished fifth clocking 32:55.91.
Commonwealth and Asian Games medallist, Avinash Sable clocked 8:21.85 seconds in men’s 3000m steeplechase to finish second, though he was a good 10 seconds adrift of his national record of 8:11.20, set at the 2022 CWG where he had won the silver medal.
American Kenneth Rooks, winner of the 3000m steeplechase national title at the 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, took the top spot clocking 8:18.77, and coming close to the meet record of 8:18.55.
Ace Indian women’s long-distance runner Parul Chaudhary, winner of gold (5000m) and silver (3000m steeplechase) at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, finished third in steeplechase, clocking 9:31.38 seconds, which was nearly 16 seconds adrift from the national record of 9:15.31 in her name set in Budapest last year.
Another Indian in the event, Priti, was 20th clocking 10:12.88 seconds.
Several Indian elite middle and long-distance athletes currently training in Colorado are competing in Portland Track Festival.