New stars emerged on the horizon as Indian track and field athletes brought unprecedented success to the country with impressive performances in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in a record-breaking 2010.

The year saw Indian athletes bagging a record 12 medals, including two gold, in the Commonwealth Games here while five of the 14 yellow medals at the Asian Games were bagged by country's athletes in Guangzhou.

Krishna Poonia entered her name into India's athletics folklore by becoming the first woman to win an individual gold in the Commonwealth Games which was further made memorable when the country swept the shot-put event by bagging all the medals.

India's 12 medals in CWG's athletics competition were two more than the number it won in all the earlier editions.

One month later in Guangzhou, the athletes bagged five gold, two silver and five bronze with new track sensation Ashwini Akkunji and Joseph Abraham clinching a rare gold double by winning men's and women's 400m hurdles in the Asian Games. Ashwini, born in an agricultural family in a nondescript village of Siddapura in Karnataka, came out of nowhere to win two gold (another in 400m relay race). She had switched to 400m hurdles only in May this year as her coaches thought her long strides would suit hurdles.