Uttarakhand’s Ankita Dhyani announced her arrival as a middle- and long-distance runner of immense potential by breaking Sunita Rani’s National U20 Record in the women’s 5000m on the opening day of the 36th National Junior Athletics Championships at the Sarusajai Stadium here today.
Having clocked 16:37.90 in winning the 5000m Federation Cup Junior U20 Athletics Championships in Bhopal on January 26, 18-year-old Ankita Dhyani improved her time to 16:21.19 to improve the National Record from 16:21.59 that Sunita Rani had set in the Summer Universiade at the Stadio Cibali in Catania, Italy on August 26, 1997.