India’s top middle-distance runner Harmilan Bains clinched the second position in the women’s 1500 m event at the Birmingham University Grand Prix 2023 athletics meet on Sunday. The 25-year-old athlete clocked in the time of 4:11.85, just around six seconds short of her national record of 4:05.39, which she set in Warangal in 2021. The local athlete Niamh Bridson Hubbard delivered a career-best performance of 4:11.13 to win the race, which had 13 competitors.
Tokyo Olympian Amy-Eloise Markovc of Great Britain secured the third position, clocking 4:12.70 in the race. The event was a World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger event. Harmilan made the return to action late last year after she underwent surgery to treat a knee injury which kept her away from the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the World Athletics Championships. She played in the Loughborough and Manchester meets in May. At the Indian championships held in Bhubaneswar last month, Harmilan qualified for the Asian Games this year, which will take place from September 23 to October 8 this year. She qualified in 800 m and 1500 m disciplines. She clocked 4:08.50 in the 1500 m event in Bhubaneswar. She’s been training in Europe, mostly Manchester, since June with her coach Yunis Khan. Her timings this year, however, are not good enough to earn her a direct entry in the World Athletics Championships scheduled to be held in Budapest next month.
The qualifying standard’s in 1500 m for Budapest is 4:03.50. The qualifying period for the world championships ends on July 30. Only 56 entries will be accepted in women’s 1500 m, either by meeting the qualification standard or via world rankings. At world number 200, Lili Das is India’s leading athlete in women’s 1500 m discipline, followed by KM Deeksha and KM Chanda.
