Indian marathoners break national record at World Championships

Jaisha Orchatteri finished in 18th and broke India’s national marathon record (file photo)

India’s female marathoners broke the national record at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing, China today. Runner Jaisha Orchatteri ran the marathon in 2:34:43 to set a new national record for India. She finished in 18th overall.

Orchatteri’s teammate Sudha Singh finished just behind her in 19th, with a time of 2:35:35. The pace means that Singh has now qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba was the overall winner of the women’s marathon, finishing the 42km in a time of 2:27:35. The event was a closely-contested one, with Helah Kiprop of Kenya finishing in 2nd only one second behind Dibaba.

With the victory, Dibaba has become the first-ever Ethiopian woman to win a marathon title at the world championships. Seasoned marathoner and two-time world champion Edna Kiplagat of Kenya was in contention for her third Championships title in a row, but lost pace to finish in fifth place.

India’s Lalita Babar reached the finals of the 3000m steeplechase event at the Championships and set the pace early on, but lost time and finished in 8th. Shot-putter Inderjeet Singh reached the finals of his event, but only managed an 11th place finish. Discus thrower Vikas Gowda suffered a similar fate, finishing that event in 9th.

Indian national record of 2:34:43 for Jaisha Orchatteri in 18th; her teammate Sudha Singh is 19th in 2:35:35. #beijing2015

— IAAF (@iaaforg) August 30, 2015

Jaisha completed with national record timing of 2:34:43 while Singh finished with a time of 2:35:53 which now books her a 2016 Olympics spot

— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) August 30, 2015