Doha [Qatar], May 17 : India's Parul Chaudhary began her 2025 athletics season on a high note, setting a new national record in the women's 3000m steeplechase at the Doha Diamond League 2025 in Qatar on Friday, according to Olympics.com.
She clocked 9:13.39 to break her own previous record of 9:15.31, set during the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.
Parul finished sixth in a highly competitive field. Notably, she ended ahead of Uganda's Peruth Chemutai, the silver medallist at the Paris 2024 Olympics, who placed seventh.
Her impressive time also easily met the qualifying mark of 9:18.00 for the upcoming World Athletics Championships, scheduled to be held in Tokyo this September.
"I felt very good in the race," Parul said after the event, as quoted from Olympics.com.
"The weather was also nice. Considering the way I trained, the race went well. This is the first time in two years my season-opener has been good," she added.
Kenya's Faith Cherotich, who won bronze at the Paris Olympics, secured first place with a world-leading time of 9:05.08. Bahrain's Winfred Yavi, the reigning Olympic champion, came second with 9:05.26.
This was Parul's first race of the 2025 athletics season.
In the men's 5000m event, India's Gulveer Singh finished ninth with a time of 13:24.32 in his Diamond League debut. The Asian Games bronze medallist in the 10,000m had earlier set the national record in the 5000m with a 12:59.77 run in Boston.
Kenya's Reynold Cheruiyot won the race with a personal best of 13:16.40.
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