PRAYAGRAJ, June 23 -- Ever since Milkha Singh's historic fourth-place finish at the 1960 Rome Olympics, athletics in India has been on the rise. If the "Flying Sikh" was the biggest star of yesteryears, sprinter PT Usha, long jumper Anju Bobby George, shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor, and javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra gave their heart and soul to uplift the sport in the decades that followed. Consistent success at the Olympics and the World Athletics Championships has, however, begun only recently, courtesy of Neeraj Chopra, who has become an inspiration for thousands of Olympian hopefuls. "I too wish to make a name for myself like Chopra, who has shown a new path to Indian athletes. Chopra's first golden success at the 2016 Junior World Championship inspired me to take up the javelin. If today I am here on the biggest platform in the domestic circuit, it's because of Chopra," said young Hemant Kumar before joining the first-day action at the 23rd National Junior U20 Federation Athletics Championship here on Sunday. "Ever since Chopra's success in 2016, I haven't missed a single event of his. I even watched his Diamond League golden success yesterday," said Kumar, who hails from Varanasi, which is also the hometown of Olympian javelin thrower Shivpal. "For me, athletics is the best way to survive. It brings you name, fame and money," said javelin thrower Rajni. "For me, sprinter Hima Das is a big inspiration. Against the odds, she excelled in the World U20 Championship and the 2018 Asian Games, winning two gold and a silver," said Nagori, a short-distance runner from Assam. Undoubtedly, this National Junior U20 Federation Athletics Championship is the biggest opportunity for junior athletes to stamp their supremacy in as many as 20 events. Moreover, the new policy of the Athletics Federation of India has made this championship even more exciting and competitive. "This time, we are seeing the participation of over 1,200 athletes over the three days as AFI wants to give a chance to every one who has achieved the qualifying mark in their respective state championships. In the past, only the top three athletes of a discipline from a state were allowed to participate in the event," Uttar Pradesh Athletics Association's technical committee chief Anu Kumar said on Sunday. "One may be surprised to know that we had to conduct nine heats in the 100 metre dash this morning as there were 89 athletes," said Kumar, adding, "AFI wants more and more talent to come up the ladder and do well for India in the future." He also said the championship was also seeing participation of athletes who benefit from different schemes of the Sports Authority of India, Reliance Foundation and JSW. Meanwhile, the men's 3000m event witnessed a unique finish. Madhya Pradesh's Vinod Singh not only set up the new meet record by clocking 8:14.22 seconds, rewriting the previous record of 8:26.72 seconds. Seven others in the event, too beat that time. They were Vivek Chand, Rahul Kumar Verma, Sachin Yadav, Aman Yadav, Ajay, Harshad Kadam and Rohit Vaidya. Women's discus: Anisha (Har) 49.62m, Riddhi (Har) 47.68m, Supriya Attri (NCO, Patiala) 44.74m; 100m: Nipam (UP) 11.86 sec, Archita Banerjee (WB) 11.90 sec, Sanjana (Dli) 12.01 sec; 3000m: Sanjana Singh (Har) 9:51.77 sec, Shilpa (Guj) Gujarat 9:53.19; Anshu (UP) 9:53.30 sec....