Sanjivani Jadhav won a silver in the women’s 10,000 metres at the World University Games in Taipei.
Sanjivani Jadhav won a silver in the women’s 10,000 metres at the World University Games in Taipei. The 20-year-old ,is one of the rising stars of Indian athletics and she gave an indication of her talent when she won a bronze in the 5000 metres at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar in July. This is the second major medal for the youngster from Nashik, who was also a medalist at the World School Olympiad.
Daria Maslova of Kyrgyztan won the gold with a timing of 33:19.27 and Jadhav came second at 33:22.00. The strides Sanjivani has made in just over a month can be gauged from the fact that she had clocked 33.28.35 to finish fifth in Bhubaneswar but shaved off over five seconds at the 29th Summer Universiade. What made her second place impressive was that Maslova had the experience of competing at the World Athletics Championships earlier this month. Sanjivani also had to stave off the threat from the Japanese duo of Hosoda and Yuki Munehisa. The latter had the fastest personal best in the field (31:58.46), but finished fourth in 33:40.45.
When it mattered, Sanjivani didn’t fade away as she was able to maintain her momentum when she and Maslova broke away from the field with 600 metres left. The bronze medal at the Asian meet was her first at a senior international meet. Shortly after winning the 5,000 metres bronze at the Asian Championships, Sanjivani, who hadn’t qualified for the World Championships, had said that her target was to finish on the podium at the Summer Universiade.
However, for all her promise on the athletics track, she began as a wrestler. It was coach Vijender Singh who spotted her during a local meet and convinced her that her future was in middle and long-distance running. A young Sanjivani was coaxed by her grandfather, who was a wrestler, to grapple. But guided by Vijender, Sanjivani was soon winning medals at the district level and never looked back.
The coach says he went by a hunch because Sanjivani hailed from a belt which also produced middle and long distance runners like Kavita Raut, an Asian Games and Commonwealth Games medalist. “She is still just 20 and has already proved that she has the ability to win medals at international events. She has been consistently improving and is one for the future,” Vijender said.
