Shaoxing [China], May 17 (ANI): Indian athlete Parul Chaudhary narrowly missed out on breaking her own national record in women's 3000 m steeplechase at Shanghai Diamond League 2026 on Saturday.

During the prestigious high-profile athletics event on Saturday, Parul clocked timings of 9:12.84 in the competition, which officially kick-started her season. She finished seventh, as per Olympics.com.

Parul fell just 0.38 seconds short of her national record, which she accomplished during her gold-winning Asian Athletics Championships performance in Gumi last year.

Parul's performance also managed to breach the minimum qualification standard of 9:47.00, set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for the women's 3000 m steeplechase event at the Asian Games 2026 to be held later this year in Japan from September to October. But her final selection in the Indian contingent rests with the AFI, and the breaching of the qualification standard does not guarantee her a spot in the Asian Games.

Uganda's Peruth Chemutai, a two-time Olympic medallist, secured the win with a meeting record of 8:51.47. Kenya's Faith Cherotich, the Paris 2024 bronze medallist and reigning world champion, was a close second in 8:51.48, while Tunisia's Marwa Bouzayani took third place with timings of 8:58.09.

The Shanghai Diamond League appearance was her first competition since the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last year, where she finished ninth in her heat with timings of 9:22.24.

It is also Parul's third Diamond League appearance, having finished sixth in Doha last year with her then personal best time of 9:13.39 and later finished 16th at Eugene with timings of 9:46.74.

The Shanghai meet marks the opening leg of the 2026 Diamond League season. The competition moves to Xiamen next weekend. Indian javelin throw star Sachin Yadav, who upstaged Olympic gold medalist and defending champion Neeraj Chopra with a fourth-place finish in the World Championships last year, will make his Diamond League debut on June 4 in Rome. (ANI)