Antil wins India's first World athletics gold

Discus thrower Seema Antil made history by becoming the first Indian athlete ever to win a gold in a World athletics championship.

Seema achieved this rare distinction on the second day of the 8th World Junior athletics championships in Santiago (Chile) on Thursday.

Seema won the discuss event with an impressive throw of 55.27 metres, Lalit Bhanot, secretary, Amateur Athletic Federation of India, announced in Delhi on Friday.

She had trained along with the Sydney Olympics-hopeful Neelam J Singh at the senior camp in India, under the guidance of coach Jaswant Singh.

Glimpses of her potential came at the Calcutta Open Nationals, when she outclassed competition favourite Neelam.

India can afford to look up to this promising athlete for more such feats as she competed in Santiago with athletes in the under-19 category. She is still to complete 18 years.

As many as 60 countries are participating in the six-day championships.