Bengaluru: On a cloudy Friday, long distance runner Gulveer Singh set a new meet record en route to gold in the men's 5000m event on the opening day of the 63rd National Open Athletics Championships here.
The Asian Games medallist, representing Services Sports Control Board, clocked 13 minutes 54.70 seconds to better the previous time of 13:54.72 set in 1994 by Bahadur Singh. Sunil Dawar of Madhya Pradesh (14:00.50) won silver while Lovepreet Singh of SSCB (14:00.89) took bronze.
Day one also belonged to two Seemas - one from Himachal Pradesh and the other from Haryana - who grabbed gold medals in the women's 5000m and discus throw events respectively.
Lining up on the track at the Sree Kanteerava stadium, 23-year-old Seema topped the podium in the 5000m event with a timing of 15 minutes, 47.95 seconds ahead of Maharashtra's Sanjivani Jadhav (15:55.69) in second spot and Railways Sports' Lili Das (16:25.53) in third position.
On the other hand, 25-year-old Seema threw the discus to a distance of 54.89 meters to clinch gold while Nidhi of Railways Sports (52.46m) grabbed a silver and Sanya Yadav of Haryana (49.84m) took bronze.
The most high-profile athlete on day one of competition here was walker Priyanka Goswami, who was competing in her first event after a forgettable Paris Olympics where she finished a below-par 41st in a field of 45 athletes.
The 28-year-old's misery seem to have continued here in the city too as she started the 20km walk event but dropped out of the race after two laps. The reason for failing to complete the course remained unknown.
Ravina of Haryana crossed the finish line first with a timing of 1 hour 35 minutes and 52 seconds while Munita Prajapati of Railways Sports (1:37.40) was second and Vandana of Karnataka (1:39.41) was third.
In the corresponding men's race, SSCB's Servin (1:25.35) won gold even as Haryana's Amit (1:25.40) claimed silver and SSCB's Arshpreet Singh (1:26.56) took home a bronze.
Results: Men: 5000m: Gulveer Singh (SSCB, 13:54.70) 1; Sunil Dawar (MP, 14:00.50) 2; Lovepreet Singh (SSCB, 14:00.89) 3.
20km race walk: Servin (SSCB, 1:25.35) 1; Amit (Har, 1:25.40) 2; Arshpreet Singh (SSCB, 1:26.56) 3.
Women: 5000m: Seema (HP, 15:47.95) 1; Sanjivani Jadhav (Mah, 15:55.69) 2; Lili Das (RS, 16:25.53) 3.
20km race walk: Ravina (Har, 1:35.52) 1; Munita Prajapati (RS, 1:37.40) 2; Vandana (Kar, 1:39.41) 3.
Discus throw: Seema (Har, 54.89m) 1; Nidhi (RS, 52.46m) 2; Sanya Yadav (Har, 49.84m) 3.
Triple jump: Sheena V (Ker, 13.27m) 1; Mallala Anusha (RS, 13.17m) 2; Babisha P (TN, 13.13m) 3.