SANJANA Joshi clinched agold medal in the Under-23 women’s category at the Triathlon Nationals held in Pune recently.The event was conducted after along time by Indian Triathlon Federation. The championship featured asprint-distance triathlon, comprisinga750mswim,18km cycling leg and a 5km run. Joshi began strongly in the swimming leg, establishing an early lead. However, she was overtakenduring the cycling section by aMadhya Pradesh competitor.But after the transition from cycling to running, where Joshi displayed her improved running formand steadily increased the pace.

 

In athrilling finish, Sanjana reclaimed thelead and secured the U-23 national title,finishing the race in 1:07:26, with a winning margin of 29 seconds. DurvishaPawarfinishedsecondwithatimeof 1:07:55while Heena Phogat of Haryana secured the bronzemedal with atime of 1:08:36. “Lately,Sanjana has improved in her running, but she still has to work on her cycling skills, particularly on turns with speed,”said her father and coach Sunil Joshi, reflecting on her performance.