New Delhi: A star was born at the National Inter-State Championship on Wednesday when Uttar Pradesh’s 18-year-old hammer thrower Anushka Yadav achieved a feat to rewrite Indian sports history by becoming the youngest in the country.Competing at the Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar, the youngster from Baleni village in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district broke the women’s hammer national record with a massive effort of 67.02m, surpassing the previous mark of 65.25m set by Sarita Singh in 2017.What made the feat even more remarkable was that Anushka broke the national record twice in the competition. After opening with a throw of 62.07m, he surpassed his long-standing mark with a second attempt of 65.64m before posting an impressive 67.02m in the final attempt.The performance represented a huge leap from his previous mark of 62.89m, which he set when he won gold at the World Games last year. His opening was enough to dislodge the Athletics Federation of India Asian Games the ideal level of 61.72m.
From farm fields to national literature: Anushka’s incredible journey
Anushka’s journey to national literature is as inspiring as she is accomplished. Hailing from a family of farmers, he initially wanted to become a fast bowler before his father, former hammer thrower Sushil Yadav, steered him to the field of throwing.“My father makes me play hammer. I have three private coaches, including my father and Chirag Yadav. I was trained at my place,” said Anushka after breaking her record.The young man revealed that he started picking up hammers at the age of 12 and now has big ambitions.“I want to throw 70m plus and win gold in the Asian Games,” he said.His success is all the more impressive considering he suffered a torn ligament a few months ago.“It happened in the month of March when I tried to fix a problem with our tractor at our place at home. My brother and father were also there at the time. Fortunately, I recovered soon,” he said.
A record-breaking day highlights the National Inter-State Championships
While Anushka stole the limelight, the opening day also saw another national record as Madhya Pradesh’s Dev Meena cleared 5.46m in the men’s hurdles, besting a previous throw of 5.45m.National record holder Jyothi Yarraji bounced back from a year-long injury layoff, clocking 12.99 seconds to win the women’s 100m.“I was expecting a good time but I felt very good. Exactly this day last year I was injured. The same day I came back to follow and I showed myself. It means a lot to me,” said Yarraji.