"Like Mother Like Daughter" - Fans react to Harmilan Bains' double silver medals in Asian Games 2023
Indian athlete Harmilan Bains finished her remarkable run at the 2023 Asian Games with a silver medal in the Women's 800m final on Wednesday, October 4.
Running from lane 5, Harmilan clocked 2:03.75 to clinch the silver medal. She huffed and puffed to create space from the herd in the middle once they got closer in the second lap.
Harmilan went up a few gears to overtake Wang Chunyu just 50 metres before the finish line. She was only behind Sri Lanka's Tharushi Dilsara Karunara, who took the gold with a timing of 2:03.20. Wang came third with 2:03.90.
Earlier in the Asian Games, Harmilan won silver in the 1500m final 4:12.74s, ending India's 41-year wait for a podium finish in the middle-distance event. The 25-year-old from Punjab's Mahilpur town emulated the feats of her mother Madhuri Singh, who won the silver medal in the 2002 Asian Games in the 800m.
Chanda, who was the other Indian featured in the 800m final, was slotted in the seventh position with a timing of 2:05.69. Here are some of the reactions on X (formerly Twitter) on Harmilan Bains' double silver:
Harmilan Bains overcomes injury to shine at Asian Games
Harmilan Bains' first sight at a competitive level came at the Asian Junior Championships in Vietnam, where she won bronze in the 1500m. She also won bronze in the Federation Cup in Patiala in 2019.
Harmilan won gold medals in both 800 and 1500m races in the 2020 Khelo India University Games. In 2021, she clocked 4:05.39 to set the new national record at the 60th National Open championship. Bains surpassed Sunita Rani's previous record of 4:06.03 set during the 2002 Asian Games in Busan.
A knee injury in the early part of 2022 forced the Punjab-born athlete to undergo surgery and miss the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. The middle-distance specialist runner has now made a dream comeback by winning two medals at the ongoing Asian Games.