A Record-Breaking Comeback
Nineteen-year-old Abinaya Rajarajan delivered the breakthrough she had been waiting for on Saturday, clocking 11.34 seconds to win the women's 100m title at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meet at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. The time was a personal best and a new U20 national record, bettering the previous mark of 11.53 seconds set by Nipam Chauhan at the U20 Federation Cup earlier this year. Her performance also placed her as the third-fastest Indian woman in the 100m, behind Dutee Chand (11.17) and Rachita Mistry (11.34), as reported by The Times of India.
Rajarajan, who trains at NCOE Trivandrum under coach R Seenivasan, had been improving steadily since returning from a knee injury that had kept her out of training for about three months. She noted that although she had expected a time of 11.40, the 11.34 result was "crazy, crazy time." She told The Indian Express, "I didn't expect this, though. 11.34 is a crazy, crazy time," and thanked her coach, her physio, and her father, whom she called her hero.
A Recovery Guided by Faith and Family
Rajarajan's path to this record began with a setback at the Asian Indoor Championships in February. The injury occurred when her leg got stuck between the crash wall and the raised platform during the 60m final, causing an ACL, meniscus, and patella injury. She described the moment in detail to The New Indian Express: "After finishing there was that crash wall where we have to go and hit like this," she gestured, "and my knee went like this and my ankle got stuck. From meniscus to ACL, everything was hurt." According to The Indian Express, she was taken out on a stretcher and the injury required three months of rehabilitation.
While she was out, Nipam broke her previous national record with an 11.53 run. But Rajarajan's recovery involved more than medication—she credited visualization and her coach's words, along with her father's unwavering support. Her father, a small-time businessman supplying drilling equipment to quarry workers, had first noticed her speed when she beat him in a race at age six. "We had a running race when we were on a walk, and she beat me," he told The Indian Express.
On her return, she raced three events, meeting 11.84 in Thiruvananthapuram, before this winning performance.
A Ronaldo-Inspired Celebration
After crossing the finish line, the 19-year-old, a die-hard Cristiano Ronaldo fan, recreated the football star's trademark 'siuuu' celebration—lifting her leap with a half-turn and landing with her legs wide apart and arms extended. She told The New Indian Express she had thought carefully about her celebration: "I was thinking how to celebrate when I win medal." Her reasoning: Ronaldo, her hero.
Her father, watching from the stands, was full of pride.
More Highlights from the Meet
The evening in Bhubaneswar was characterized by overcast conditions and high humidity—around 98 per cent—with temperature at around 29 degrees Celsius, making it energy-sapping for athletes from across the world, as reported by The New Indian Express.
In the men's javelin, Rohit Yadav won the title with a throw of 87.68m on his final attempt, a personal best that moved him to fourth in the world this year. Yashvir Singh finished second with 82.94m. Rohit, who had finished seventh at the Commonwealth Games with 81.56 and was upset with that result, expressed, "I wish I had produced such a throw at the CWG."
In the jumps, Ancy Sojan won the women's long jump with a mark of 6.71m, while Shaili Singh cleared 6.56m for second. Murali Shreeshankar took the men's long jump with 8.07m. Vithya Ramraj won the women's 400m in a personal best of 51.96 seconds, and in the men's 100m Animesh Kujur and Gurinder Singh posted 10.32 and 10.39, respectively. In the throws, Nigeria's Chukwuebuka Agenwechi won the shot put with 20.78m, while Brazil's Andressa de Morais took the women's discus with 58.66m; Jamaica's Samantha Hall finished with 58.43m.
Jyothi Yarraji finished third in the 100m hurdles in 13.24 but pulled out halfway through the 100m.
Spinters Srabani Nanda and Nithya Gandhe, both recovering from chickenpox, competed in the meet. Nanda, a 200m specialist, ran her first competition since the illness, and expressed Asian Games as her ultimate goal.
A Record and a New Ambition
Rajarajan said she still has a bruise on her knee but no pain. Reflecting on her victory, she told how she was "about to cry at the end of the race because I knew I was going to break the national record," as quoted by The Indian Express.
She believes she can go under 11 seconds and break the senior national record held by Dutee Chand. "I was about to cry at the end of the race," she had said. Clearly, her comeback has put her right on track for those ambitions.