Who is Ankita Dhyani? All you need to know about India's 5000m runner who secured Paris Olympics qualification through world ranking quota

Though the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) announced the 28-member athletics contingent for the forthcoming Paris Olympics 2024 without distance runner Ankita Dhyani in the squad, she made the cut a few days later through the World Athletics rankings system after reallocations.

Asian Championships bronze medalist Ankita Dhyani made the cut as the World Athletics published the final list through reallocation after an undisclosed player pulled out of the quadrennial extravaganza in Paris.

Most recently in February 2024, she secured a silver medal at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships at the Aftab e Enghelab Sports Complex in Tehran, clocking a timing of 9:26.22 seconds in the women’s 3000m race event.

Notably, she also won the Khelo India gold medals in both 5000m and 1500m events in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Hailing from Marod village in the Pauri Garhwal district, Uttarakhand, Ankita’s passion for running started when she used to run with the big boys training for Army selection in her village. She used to train at a high altitude of 1400m to develop her capabilities.

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Ankit Dhyani’s previous records

At the junior level, Ankita Dhyani secured a gold medal in the 1500m and 5000m race events at the Federation Cup U20 Championships in January 2021. Later, she secured her spot at the World U20 Athletics Championships, finishing at the eighth rank in Nairobi.

She went on to break the U20 National Record at the Junior Nationals in Guwahati, clocking 16:21.19 seconds, going past the previous record set by Sunita Rani, clocking 16:21.59 seconds. In that year, she also secured a bronze medal at the Inter-State athletics in Patiala, clocking 16:58.07 seconds.

In 2022, Dhyani bagged her 10000m race gold medal at the Open Nationals in Bengaluru, clocking 34:39.95 seconds. Notably, she bagged silver medals in the 1500m race events across the National Games, Federation Cup, Inter-State, and Inter-Railways championships.

Later, she completely shifted her focus to the 5000m race event for the outdoor season and she followed it up with gold medals in the Federation Cup, National Open, and two Indian Grand Prix events.

Later in the same year, she clinched the bronze medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, clocking a timing of 16:03.33 seconds. At the Asian Games in 2023, her personal best came at a timing of 15:33.03 seconds, finishing at the fifth spot.

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