Ashish Yadav wins javelin silver in Eugene, Oregon; second Indian javelin medallist at U20 Worlds

World Athletics U20 Championships 2026: Ashish Yadav wins javelin silver, follows in Neeraj Chopra’s footsteps

Ashish Yadav’s 74.09m earned him silver behind South Africa’s Jan-Hendrik Heymans and made him only the second Indian javelin medallist at the U20 worlds.

Ashish Yadav won the silver medal in the javelin throw at the World Athletics U20 Championships 2026 in Eugene, Oregon, on Friday, becoming only the second Indian athlete to finish on the podium in the event at the meet.

The 19-year-old Ashish produced his best throw of the evening at 74.09m to finish behind South Africa’s Jan-Hendrik Heymans, who won gold with a world under-20 leading mark of 80.50m. Dominica’s Addison James took the bronze medal with 73.89m.

Ashish Yadav’s silver comes 10 years after Neeraj Chopra became India’s first world U20 champion, winning the javelin title at Bydgoszcz 2016 with a world U20 record of 86.48m. Ashish is now the second Indian javelin thrower to win a medal at the World Athletics U20 Championships .

Heymans had already established a big lead when the Indian found his best mark. The South African opened with 76.92m and improved to 79.42m on his fifth attempt before producing the winning 80.50m in his final throw.

Ashish began the final with 69.96m before fouling his second attempt. He responded with 74.09m on his third throw, which ultimately secured the silver. He followed it with 72.31m, 70.62m and 67.98m in his final three attempts.

Ashish entered the final with a personal best of 74.49m, set earlier this year at the Indian Open Throws Competition in Patiala.

India had two athletes in the javelin throw final, with T. Dharanidharan finishing sixth with a best effort of 72.35m.

Both Indians had qualified for the final on the opening day of the championships on Wednesday. Neither managed to reach the automatic qualification mark of 72.50m, but both advanced by finishing inside the top 12 across the two qualifying groups.

Ashish was second among the 26 throwers in qualifying with a best throw of 69.87m, while Dharanidharan grabbed the final qualification spot with 68.07m. Heymans topped the qualifying round with a first-round throw of 76.02m.

India have sent a 36-member team, comprising 23 men and 13 women, to Eugene.

Mohammed Ashfaq was the other notable result from the ongoing championships. While the 19-year-old finished eighth in the 400m final with a time of 46.20s, he had earlier clocked 45.81 earlier to break his own U20 national record in the heats and qualify for the semi-finals.

More than 1,800 athletes from 147 member federations are competing at the World Athletics U20 Championships, making it the biggest edition of the junior global championships.

Picture by Asian U20 Athletics Championships 2026

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