'It's a great feeling. I am very happy to have won a medal. I had put in a lot of hard work for the Games. It is my first medal for India,' Suraj Panwar, who hails from Uttarakhand, said
Buenos Aires: India's Suraj Panwar gave the nation its first medal in athletics in the ongoing Youth Olympics 2018 here on Monday.
The 17-year-old Panwar finished second in the men's 5,000 metre race walk in Argentina.
In the two-phase race, Panwar topped the standings in second stage after finishing seconding in the first. However, in the overall placing, he came second.
In the first stage, he clocked 20 minutes and 23.20 seconds, his personal best. In the second, he ended the race in a time of 20:35.87.
With an overall timing of 40:59.17, he bagged silver in the 16-man field. Ecuador's Oscar Patin won gold (40:51.86) while Jan Moreu of Puerto Rico was third (41:59.29).
Panwar, who started his athletics career in 2014, is overall the third Indian athlete to win a medal at Youth Olympics.
Previously, discus thrower Arjun and Durgesh Kumar (men's 400m hurdles) had won silver each in the first edition of Youth Olympics in 2010.
"It's a great feeling. I am very happy to have won a medal. I had put in a lot of hard work for the Games. It is my first medal for India," Panwar, who hails from Uttarakhand, said.
"My next target is to better my performance here and win a medal in the senior level also," he added.
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Suraj Panwar finished 1st in Men's 5000m Race Walk Stage 2 event, clocking 20.35.87! After Final Placing, finishes 2nd overall, winning India its first Medal in a Silver! 🥈👏 Suraj 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/lXR7qSRSfN
A brief profile of Panwar
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