Basant, Shahnavaz win India's first U20 high, long jump medals

Every year, the best athletes under 20 years old from around the world meet at the World Athletics U20 Championships, and this year it took place in Eugene, Oregon, in the United States.

Two young Indian athletes made history there.

Basant Kumar Meghwal, who is 19, won a silver medal in the high jump by clearing 2.21 metres, a height he has reached before and matched again.

It was the first high jump medal India has ever won at this competition.

Shahnavaz Khan, whose age is reported as 18 and 19, won a bronze medal in the long jump with a best leap of 7.84 metres, also a first for an Indian man.

Three high jumpers cleared the same height of 2.21 metres, so the medals were decided by who needed the fewest jumps to do it.

Basant works for the Indian Navy and comes from a village in Rajasthan, while Shahnavaz grew up in a village in Uttar Pradesh.

Another Indian, Ashish Yadav, had already won a silver medal in the javelin throw the day before.

With three medals, India matched its best-ever result at this championship, the same as in 2021 and 2022.