National Junior Athletics Champs 2026: Poonam, Juin, Alice recover from setbacks to find the next step

Poonam and Juin won the women’s U-20 javelin and the high jump titles respectively, while Alice finished third in the second discipline.

Updated : Oct 26, 2026 22:26 IST , Chennai - 4 MINS READ

(L-R) Juin Mantusa, Poonam and S. Alice Deva Prasanna finished on the podium at the Junior Nationals in Chennai. | Photo Credit: Sivasankar. A

Poonam recovered from two opening fouls to win the women’s U-20 javelin title with 51.48m at the National Junior Athletics Championships in Chennai, after her first two throws landed outside the sector.

Before her third attempt, the Haryana thrower’s immediate concern was to secure a place in the top eight and earn three more throws. Her coach, former javelin thrower Hanuman Singh, advised her to direct the javelin further inside the sector.

“My first thought was to get into the top eight. If I had fouled a third time, I would have been out,” Poonam said. “Sir told me to release it a little further inside the sector.”

She stayed in the competition and went on to take gold, but identified her run-up and a tendency to move towards the right as areas requiring attention. Much of her recent training had been devoted to technique, which she believed would help her throw further.

Hanuman had introduced her to javelin when she was in Class 10 at a school in Bangaon village in Haryana’s Fatehabad district. She knew little about the sport then.

He had taken her straight from the classroom. “I really don’t know why he picked me. That’s a question you’d have to ask him, but I’m happy he did,” Poonam added.

As she took to the event, her inspiration came from the senior girls in her village rather than an established star of the sport.

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Hanuman’s support extends beyond training. Poonam said he meets most of her sporting expenses, including travel to competitions and the purchase of javelins.

Her father’s death in December 2024 came just before that year’s Junior Nationals. Poonam recalled travelling to Odisha for the meet two days after his death and going on to win the U-18 silver.

Now in her final junior season, Poonam wants to represent India at the senior level, with improvements to her run-up among her priorities as she prepares to move up.

Juin adds U-20 gold

West Bengal’s Juin Mantusa added the women’s U-20 high jump title to last year’s U-18 gold, clearing 1.71m to lead a one-two finish for her state.

Juin cleared every height she attempted up to 1.71m at the first attempt before failing three times at 1.74m. She won on countback ahead of teammate Mohur Mukherjee, who also cleared 1.71m but had failures at earlier heights.

“I’m not that satisfied. My expectations were higher. My target was 1.75m, but I cleared 1.71m,” Juin said Sportstar.

The Kolkata-based jumper, who began with gymnastics, felt better physically than at the Junior Federation competition, where she had cleared 1.69m. She added that she needed to improve her approach speed.

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For bronze medallist S. Alice Deva Prasanna of Tamil Nadu, a clearance of 1.65m came despite lingering discomfort from an injury sustained in 2024. She felt pain during the warm-up and on take-off, prompting her to shorten her run-up to six strides.

“I couldn’t build up speed. I was feeling pain while taking off, so I had only six strides while jumping. I need to work on moving my run-up further back,” Alice said.

Alice traced the injury to the Khelo India Games that year and said repeatedly practicing an incorrect take-off had aggravated it. At the time, she had not realised what she was doing wrong or how to correct it.

She regarded the bronze-winning clearance as progress in her recovery. It was five centimetres higher than the 1.60m she registered at the Indian Athletics Series meet in Chennai on May 10.

At the end of Day four, Tamil Nadu leads with 13 golds, seven silvers, and 13 bronzes, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 30 medals, and Karnataka with 22 medals.