Ankita breaks National Record in women’s 2000m steeplechase, finishes first at Grand Slam Jerusalem

Indian athlete Akita Dhyani broke the National Record in the women’s 2000m steeplechase enroute to her first-place finish at the Grand Slam Jerusalem tournament — a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver event — on Thursday.

The 23-year-old clocked 6:13.92 to claim the top spot while Israel’s Adva Cohen (6:15.20) and Denmark’s Juliane Hvid (6:17.80) took the second and third place respectively.

The previous record in this event was held by Asian Games gold medallist Parul Chaudhary (6:14.38).

Ankita, last month, clinched silver in the women’s 3000m steeplechase event at the World University Games in Germany.

In this year’s Asian Athletics Championships in Batumi, South Korea, the athlete from Uttarakhand finished fifth in the women’s 3000m steeplechase while Parul clinched silver. In the 2023 edition, Ankita had won the bronze medal in the women’s 5000m event.