Year-End Review 2025: Indian Athletics’ Season of Drama, Records and New Heroes

YEAR-END REVIEW – SPORTS ARENA SPECIAL

🏃‍♂️ ATHLETICS 🏃‍♀️

2025 for Indian athletics was packed with real drama — heartbreak, history-making moments, and the emergence of new stars alongside established global elites.

🌍 The World Stage: Tokyo Delivered the Unexpected

The World Athletics Final in Tokyo was wild. While all eyes were on Neeraj Chopra, a new star emerged — and what started as a whisper soon turned into a roar.

Sachin Yadav — The Shock of the Season

In his maiden World Final, Sachin Yadav produced a performance few saw coming.

First throw: 86.27m (PB)
Held the silver medal position for multiple rounds
Finished 4th, missing the bronze by just 40 cm
Finished ahead of Neeraj Chopra (8th) and Arshad Nadeem (10th)

A fearless debut on the biggest stage.

Sarvesh Kushare — Leaping Into History

Sarvesh Kushare’s rise in 2025 was nothing short of remarkable.

World ranking jump: 38 → 6
Cleared 2.28m (PB) at the Worlds
Highest jump ever by an Indian at a World Championships final

His roar of “Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai” echoed through Tokyo’s National Stadium — a moment that defined belief.

🥇 Neeraj Chopra — Records and a Legacy Beyond Medals

Neeraj Chopra finally hit the long-awaited big one.

90.23m throw in Doha
National Record

Beyond the field, he also launched the Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru — bringing World Athletics Gold Level track and field to India for the first time.

🌏 Asian Dominance & University Stars

🎓 World University Games 2025

India’s Medal Tally: 3 🥈 | 2 🥉

Seema underlined her world-class credentials with a gritty silver in the women’s 5000m, proving she belongs on the global stage.

🌏 Asian Athletics Championships 2025

Total Medals: 8 🥇 | 10 🥈 | 6 🥉

Pooja Singh — Ending a 25-Year Wait

The 18-year-old from Haryana ended India’s 25-year gold drought in women’s high jump.

Gold medal
Clearance: 1.89m
A journey that began with training on rice-husk sacks and bamboo poles

Gulveer Singh — The Distance Machine

An absolute workhorse of the season.

Asian Double Gold: 5000m & 10000m
First Indian to go sub-13 minutes in 5000m (12:59.77)
National record holder in:
- 3000m
- 3000m Short Track
- 5000m
- 5000m Short Track
- 10000m
- 25km

Tejaswin Shankar — The Ultimate All-Rounder

Asian Silver in Decathlon (7,618 points)
Missed gold by just 16 points
Later improved his National Record to 7,826 points

Jyothi Yarraji — Consistency at the Top

Became the first Indian woman hurdler to successfully defend the Asian 100m hurdles title

⚡ The Need for Speed and Power

Animesh Kujur — Fastest Indian in History

First Indian male sprinter to qualify for the World Championships
100m NR: 10.18s
200m NR: 20.32s
Officially the fastest Indian ever

Vishal T.K — New King of the Quarter Mile

Clocked 45.12s in the 400m
Broke a six-year-old national record
Announced himself as India’s premier 400m runner

Dev Meena — Climbing New Heights

Extended the Pole Vault National Record to 5.40m
A teenager refusing to stop rising

🤝 Team Spirit & Ultra-Endurance

4x100m Relay — World University Games

Bronze medal
Time: 38.89s
Team: Lalu Bhoi, Animesh Kujur, Manikanta Hoblidhar, Amlan Borgohain
Earlier in the year, another quartet rewrote a 15-year-old national record

Amar Singh Devanda — Beyond Limits

A performance defined by pain and persistence.

Gold: 100km Asia-Oceania Championship (Bangkok)
Time: 6:59:37
First Indian to break the 7-hour barrier
Ran the final kilometres at sub-4:00 pace after 95km

♿ Para-Athletics Excellence at Home

As hosts, India recorded its best-ever medal tally:

6 🥇 | 9 🥈 | 7 🥉

Gold Medal Performances

Sumit Antil — Men’s Javelin F64
Shailesh Kumar — Men’s High Jump T63
Rinku Hooda & Sundar Singh Gurjar — Men’s Javelin F46 (1-2 finish)
Nishad Kumar — Men’s High Jump T47

Editorial Credit

This year-end review is based on season-long coverage, performance tracking, and analytical threads curated by
Sports Arena.

Readers can follow their platform for continued updates, insights, and data-driven coverage of Indian athletics.

Closing Note

To the heroes of 2025 — the sprinters who found new gears, the throwers who moved the horizon, and the jumpers who defied gravity — the stage is set.

May 2026 echo with the Indian anthem in Glasgow and Aichi–Nagoya.