Neeru Pathak broke the girls’ 400m under-18 National record of former Asian junior champion Rezoana Mallick Heena while winning the gold at the 19th National youth athletics championships in Bilaspur on Sunday( 16 June 2024).

The 17-year-old from Delhi clocked 52.85s (old National youth record 52.98s) and also qualified for the under-20 Worlds (entry standard 55.40s) which will be held in Lima, Peru, in August.

Punjab’s Mannat Brar, the silver medallist (55.84), finished three seconds behind Neeru.