Patna, July 20 -- Olympian Kiran Pahal clinched the gold medal in the women's 400m event in Patna on Saturday at the Indian Open Athletics 2025 tournament, finishing with a time of 54.93 seconds, as per Olympics.com.

The 24-year-old Kiran had lit up the domestic circuit last year with a 50.92-second run at the Inter-State Championships in Panchkula--the fastest time by an Indian athlete in 2024 and one that secured her qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

At the Olympics, Pahal clocked 52.51s in the heats and 52.59s in the repechage, falling short of the semi-finals. The Indian national record of 50.79s in the women's 400m belongs to Hima Das from the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

Elsewhere on the track, Shatakshi Rai edged out Ri...