Suraj Panwar won India’s first medal in athletics at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Monday. 

Panwar clocked times of 20.35.87 and 20.23.30 in the two stages of the 5000m race walk to finish behind Ecuador’s Oscar Patin. Puerto Rico’s Jan Moreu finished third to get the bronze medal.

Panwar's medal has taken India's medal tally to 11 with 3 gold and 8 silver medals so far. 

Panwar finished second in the first stage. He topped second stage after the leader Xin Wang was disqualified for a lane infringement. However, Panwar's overall time of 40:59.17 was well over seven minutes slower than Patin’s 40:51.86. 

“My next step is to train for the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and win a medal there as well. My message for the youth of India is to strive hard and win a medal for the country,” said Panwar after the win.