CHENNAI: Asian Games bronze medallist and Tamil Nadu's rising sprint star Abinaya Rajarajan is set to round off a memorable season at her favourite hunting ground — the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium — in the National Junior Athletics Championships which begins on Friday.
She is set to take part in the women’s U20 100m event on Day 1. “I had planned to do the 100m, 200m and the relays earlier in the season. But due to the hamstring injury in the Asian Games, I initially considered skipping it but at the same time, I felt there is no better way to finish the season and my junior career in Chennai – my home ground,” she told this daily on Thursday. It remains to be seen whether she will run in the relay events for Tamil Nadu later in the five-day competition.
While she has recovered from that hamstring injury from the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya – she couldn't take part in the final of the mixed 4x100m relay where India won bronze – Abinaya said that she would take the event with “fun” and a little bit of caution. “Since this is my last event for the season, I would like to have fun on the track here and take it carefully before I shift my focus to next season. The events next year are crucial, like the Asian Athletics Championships (in China) and World University Athletics meet (in South Korea). There are also the World Athletics Championships and the Diamond League which I would want to qualify for,” she said.
The Tenkasi-born sprinter has seen success in the relay events. She was part of the silver-medal winning women’s relay team in Asian Athletics Championships in 2025 – her first Asian meet. And her first Asian Games medal also came in the mixed relays event.
Going forward, the teenager said she wants to focus more on the individual 100m event. “I want to begin by winning a medal in the individual event in the Asian Championships. It is not to say that I don’t want to be on relay teams. Of course, I would be happy to be in one, but my focus will be on the individual events. Since I will be participating in senior events, I want to shine as an individual 100m runner rather than shining as a relay runner," she said.
Abinaya, whose season began with a horrific injury at the National Indoor Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, would not have thought she would end it with an Asian Games medal. But she has already set her eyes on the next season, beginning with the women’s senior national record. “When one mentions that I am a U20 national record holder, it makes me proud. Soon, I will change that to the (senior) national record,” she added.