With the National Games 2025 concluding on 14 February and the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) lifting the trophy for the fifth time, this year’s edition of the tournament is for sure going down in history as one of the most successful ones for several other reasons too
SSCB has won the title five times, with a consecutive winning streak until Maharashtra broke it last year. This year, they’ve claimed the title once again to show who the boss is. SSCB won a total of 121 medals with the most golds being 68.
Apart from SSCB’s triumph, the tournament became popular for many other reasons, like Uttrakhand hosting it for the first time and performing breathtakingly. The state performed average last year and finished off on the 7th position this time with 14 gold medals.
But what sets this year’s National Games apart is the number of records set and broken during the event in different disciplines. So let’s take a closer look at the record breakers.
Sawan Barwal
Sawan Barwal is an Indian long-distance runner from Himachal Pradesh who has shown great excellence in both domestic and international events. He qualified for the Asian Athletics Championship 2025 after winning the men’s 10,000 race at the National Games 2025.
He not only won the event but also set a new record by completing the race with a time of 28:49.93. He also won a gold in the 5000m race where he also set another record with a time of 13:45.93. He was born in 1998 making him one of the youngest in the particular discipline.
Sachin Yadav
Sachin Yadav is a 25-year-old athlete from Uttar Pradesh. He made history by clinching gold at the 38th National Games in the men’s javelin throw and also set a new tournament record with a throw of 84.39 meters breaking the previous record of Rajinder Singh.
He qualified for the Asian Championship though he missed the eligibility of the World Athletics Championship which needed a mark of 85.50 meters. Regarding his miss, he said, “My goal was to achieve the World Athletics automatic qualification mark but I missed, I’m close to my goal and should be able to achieve 85.50m in the next competition.”
Dev Kumar Meena
Dev Kumar Meena is a 19-year-old pole vaulted from Madhya Pradesh who comes from a farming background. He won a bronze in the Asian U20 Athletics Championships 2024 and was the defending champion of the pole vault event in the National Games, having won in 2023. He not only defended his title this year but also made a record-breaking clearance of 5.32 meters. This is also his personal best.
Anushka Yadav
Anushka Yadav is a 16-year-old young athlete from Uttar Pradesh. This event might be her national debut as her previous records are unknown. She set a new National Games record with a throw of 62.89m in women’s hammer throw and grabbed a gold.
Poonam Singh
Poonam Singh of Haryana set a record in the women’s high jump by clearing a height of 1.84 meters. She not only earned a gold but also qualified for the upcoming Asian Athletics Championship in 2025 where the entry mark was set at 1.83 meters.
Also Read: National Games 2025 Medal Tally: Who’s Leading The Board?
