Pooja Singh seventh as India finish World Athletics U20 Championships with three medals

On August 10, 2026 in Eugene, at the World Athletics U20 Championships, India's high jumper Pooja Singh placed seventh and India concluded the meet with three medals. The Indian women's 4x400m relay finished ninth and last in the final.

The 19-year-old Pooja Singh cleared 1.84m but failed in three attempts at 1.87m, a performance below her national senior record of 1.93m. In May she had won gold at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships with that 1.93m mark and is the reigning gold medallist at the Senior Asian Athletics Athletics Championships. Australia's Izobelle Louison-Roe took the high jump title with 1.92m, while Lilianna Batori and Aitana Alonso each recorded 1.90m to claim silver and bronze.

The Indian women's 4x400m quartet of Bhoomika Nehate, Tahura Khatun, Tanu Chaudhary and Thiya Arumugam clocked 3:45.28 to finish ninth in the final. The United States won the race in 3:29.15, Australia took silver in 3:31.39 and Great Britain earned bronze in 3:32.08.

India's medals at the championships comprised silvers for Ashish Yadav in the men's javelin and Basant Kumar Meghwal in the men's high jump, plus a bronze for Shahnavaz Khan in the men's long jump. Ashish Yadav opened India's medal account at the meet with his silver in the javelin.

Historically, India won four medals at the World Athletics U20 Championships between 2002 and 2018, including golds by Neeraj Chopra in 2016 and Hima Das in 2018. Seema Antil secured India's first-ever U20 medal with a silver in 2002 in Jamaica, and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon won bronze in the discus in 2014 in the United States.

With two silver and one bronze at Eugene, India equalled its medal haul from the 2021 and 2022 editions of the World Athletics U20 Championships.