Athletics: a district 400 m record falls after 21 years

The time was set on a new synthetic track. It is the fastest by an under-20 athlete in the state this year.

Yadav, 19, trains on a mud track in the mornings and the new synthetic oval on weekends. His coach, a retired army physical trainer, says the secret was shortening his stride by 4 cm in the final 100 metres.

The time is 0.6 seconds off the state qualifying mark. He will race at the state meet next month, where his target is a sub-46.5 clocking.

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