Umred's Harshal, training in Pune, lifts 800m Khelo India gold

Nagpur: Umred's Harshal Joge led Maharashtra's impressive medal haul with a gold in the 800 metres race in the athletics competition of the 7th Khelo India Youth Games, which concluded at the Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna, Bihar, on Wednesday.

For the first time in Khelo India's history, Maharashtra made a historic achievement by winning a total of 15 medals—10 gold, 3 silver, and 2 bronze. In the boys' 800m race, Harshal secured Maharashtra's maiden gold medal when he clocked 1 minute 53.99 seconds to register a triumph.

A member of Om Sai Sporting Club, Harshal is a native of Umred and represents Nagpur district in state-level competitions. Harshal, who trains at Pune's Sports Academy achieved this golden success under the guidance of Arvind Chavan. In the final race, Harshal prevailed over Uttar Pradesh's Gyan Singh Yadav with a comfortable margin of 90 seconds. Yadav won the silver medal with a timing of 1:54.90 seconds, while Uttarakhand's Suraj Singh claimed the bronze with 1:56.70 seconds.

While Harshal brought home a yellow metal, it was a marginal miss for Nagpur's prodigious middle-distance runner Kashish Bhagat. In the girls' 4x400 metres relay race, Kashish and her teammates Shreshta Shetty, Bhoomika Nehase, and Mansi Deherekar missed the gold medal by just one second. In a photo finish, the Maharashtra quartet had to be content with the silver medal with a timing of 3 minutes 49.44 seconds. Haryana's team claimed the gold when they clocked 3:48.44 seconds, while Tamil Nadu secured the bronze medal with a timing of 3:51.55 seconds.