Shourya Ambure became the first Indian athlete to win a track medal at the Youth Olympics, securing bronze in the 100m hurdles in Dakar, Senegal. She clocked a personal best of 13.59s. "For four years, I've been working for this medal," she said. Shourya also set a new national record.
Shourya Ambure became the first Indian athlete to win a track medal at the Youth Olympics with her bronze medal in the women's 100m hurdles at Dakar, Senegal. The 17-year-old from Maharashtra clocked her personal best of 13.59s to finish behind China's Zhang Keyi who won the gold medal with a personal best of 13.17s, while France's Anna Peeters took silver in 13.57s.
This is the second time Shourya has lowered her personal best after she clocked 13.77s in the semi-final earlier to record a new PB. In the final, she shaved it off by 0.18s. Shourya also set the new U18 national record in the event and became the only female Indian athlete to medal in track and field.
Starting in lane six, Shourya had a good start and remained in the podium position before Zhang took a clear lead for gold and Peeters held a slight advantage over the Indian athlete to finish second.
This is India's fifth medal in athletics at the youth Olympics. Durgesh Kumar Pal won silver in the boys' 400m hurdles at Singapore 2010, where Arjun Kumar also claimed silver in the boys' discus throw. At Buenos Aires 2018, Suraj Panwar won silver in the boys' 5km race walk while Praveen Chithravel took bronze in the boys' triple jump.
One of the promising names on the junior circuit, Shourya is making a comeback after an ACL injury which she suffered last year during a training session. At the start of the year, she underwent the surgery and made a comeback at the Youth Nationals.
"I actually tore my ACL in December 2025, so it's been very very difficult to get out of my rehab. I'm really proud of myself that I could come here at the Youth Olympics and even medal," Shourya told the Olympic channel after his event. "I've been dreaming about this since 2022. For four years, I've been working for this medal. I'm so, so happy."
While she topped her qualification at the Youth Nationals with a solid timing of 14.01s.
India has won a total of eight medals at the ongoing Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal. Due to no gold medal, India is placed 43rd in the medal tally but is ranked fifth by the total medal count. India has won three medals in swimming with Dhinidhu Desinghu winning two and Tirthank Pegu winning one marking a historic return from the sport of swimming.