Picture Credit: Twitter
India’s Parul Chaudhary finished 11th in the women's 3000m steeplechase finals on Sunday, August 27 at the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. However, she failed to secure a medal, her time was good enough to break the qualification threshold for the Paris 2024 Olympics and set a new national record.
In Budapest, Parul Chaudhary ran a personal best of 9:24.29 in the heats. In the final, she ran faster, clocking 9:15.31. Lalita Babar formerly held the record, when she clocked 9:19.76 during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The Indian athlete's time was also faster than the 9:23.00 mark established for the women's steeplechase event's qualification standards for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Asian Games champion from Bahrain, Winfred Yavi, won the 15-women's 3000m steeplechase final in a new world record time of 8:54.29. Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya, the 2019 world champion took the silver with a time of 8:58.98, the best of the season. With a new personal best time of 9:00.69, her countrywoman Faith Cherotich, a previous U20 world champion, won the bronze medal.
India ended the Championships, with just one medal on the tally, which was the gold medal won by Neeraj Chopra. Chopra sealed the medal in his second attempt, when he threw the javelin 88.17m. The men’s 4x400 relay team was also close to a medal finish, as they had qualified for the finals alongside giants like USA and Jamaica. But unfortunately, the Indian squad finished fifth, while USA, France and Great Britain secured podium finishes.
