4 min readSep 9, 2026 11:35 PM IST
Avinash Sable ran one round of the Mondo track at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium while 100m national record holder Gurindervir Singh signed a few autographs for the kids practising nearby before doing some resistance training on the starting blocks.
“The track feels good. I have competed on Mondo tracks only outside of India. It is good to have a world-class track here. It is speedy and a little bumpy when it comes to running, but I am happy to make a comeback tomorrow,” Sable, who is coming from a long injury layoff and will feature for the first time in a national competition since last year, told The Indian Express.
Similarly, Pole Vault NR holders Dev Meena and Sindhusree G gauged the runway with a few short runs towards the jumping pit. “Mondo tracks are different everywhere, and I just wanted to check how the track feels when I start my run-up with the pole,” he said.
His coach Ghanshyam Yadav said the event serves as a perfect warm-up. “It will be a good competition, and the timing is apt given the Asian Games are near now. I think it serves as a perfect warm-up for the Asian Games, and the prize money adds more value to the story,” he added.
The who’s who of Indian athletics, barring long jumper Sreeshankar Murali, high jumper Sarvesh Kushare, and triple jumper Praveen Chithravel, gathered at the JLN Stadium in New Delhi for the one-day meet called Indian Athletics Series Final.
The event is a new addition to the calendar and will have a total prize money pool of 65 lakhs, with top six athletes in 30 disciplines getting cash rewards each. The long-distance events and combined events are not part of the event.
The event is an invite only where the top performers across the season will be participating in the event.
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The winner in each of the 30 events will pocket Rs one lakh. The second-place finishers will receive Rs 50,000 each, while the athletes who finished third, fourth, fifth and sixth will get Rs 25,000, Rs 20,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively.
“The idea is to keep the athletes motivated, and we wanted it to be the season-ender for the newly incorporated Athletics series. The prize money adds more value to the event as the event will have the top athletes competing in it,” said a top AFI official.
However, this is not the first time AFI has introduced prize money to a national event, with the federation giving out to the top-three finishers in the three Indian Grand Prix series in the 2009 season, with the winners handed Rs 15,000 each, amounting to an aggregate of Rs 15 lakh prize purse.
Sprinters, throwers in action
Three of India’s fastest men, Gurindervir Singh, Animesh Kujur and Vishal TK, will be gracing the speedy Mondo track on Thursday.
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Along with the sprinters, the javelin throw will have a strong field, with Commonwealth Games medallist Yashvir Singh and Rohit Yadav in action. Yashvir was added at the last minute after the reigning Asian Games champion Neeraj Chopra pulled out due to injury.
The athletes will leave for Japan on Saturday and reach the University of Tsukuba the next day for a short acclimatisation camp. They will arrive in Aichi-Nagoya on September 21, two days before the start of the athletics events at the Asian Games.