WAPDA win six gold medals on opening day of National Athletics Championships

Shajar Abbas claims the men's 100-metre title in 10.20 seconds

KARACHI:

Pakistan WAPDA dominated the opening day of the Lok Sahaaita 54th National Athletics Championships 2026, winning six of the seven gold medals on offer.

National record-holder Shajar Abbas claimed the men's 100-metre title in 10.20 seconds to be crowned Pakistan's fastest man. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Attaullah finished second, while HEC's Haseeb took bronze.

WAPDA's Faiqa Riaz won the women's 100 metres in 11.56 seconds to earn the fastest woman title. HEC's Hawla secured silver, while Sindh's Iqra Riaz claimed bronze.

Sindh's Mah Noor Fatima won the championship's first gold medal in the women's 5,000-metre race walk, clocking 32 minutes 32.40 seconds. WAPDA's Amara Munawar took silver, while Punjab's Saira finished third.

WAPDA's Muhammad Waqas claimed gold in the men's 20-kilometre race walk. Pakistan Navy's Muhammad Younis Khan won silver, while WAPDA's Muhammad Gulfam secured bronze.

HEC's Khadija Mehreen, representing Superior University Lahore, won the women's shot put with a throw of 10.85 metres. WAPDA's Samia Sahar and Amna Ashiq finished second and third, respectively.

WAPDA continued their dominance in the middle-distance events, with Nazia Ehsan winning the women's 1,500 metres in 5:09.78. HEC's Gonash Batool took silver, while teammate Javeria Bibi claimed bronze.

Sohail Amir secured WAPDA's gold in the men's 1,500 metres. HEC's Abdul Wahab finished second, while WAPDA's Muhammad Akram took third.

The opening day's results underlined WAPDA's strength across sprinting, race walking, throwing and middle-distance running.