SURAT: A 19-year-old athlete died in a road accident after her scooter collided head-on with a Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) garbage collection van near Panas on Saturday morning.Police said the incident occurred around 7am when Vidhi Kadam was on her way to the gym. She was riding her scooter without a helmet on the service road when the speeding van crashed into her two-wheeler. She sustained severe injuries and was rushed to a hospital, where she died during treatment.Locals caught the van driver, identified as Girish Lakshman (22) and handed him over to police. Investigations revealed he was driving with only a learner’s licence. He has been arrested.Vidhi, a first-year B.Com student, was considered one of the most promising young athletes in the region. At the 51st Veer Narmad South Gujarat University athletic meet in Feb, she broke national runner Sarita Gaekwad’s 100m and 200m records. She had also represented her university in inter-university athletics and ranked eighth nationally, earning her a spot at the Khelo India University National Championship.She was scheduled to participate in a state-level athletics event in Sept, with strong hopes of being selected for the state team. Vidhi regularly trained at the VNSGU track, where coaches and fellow athletes described her as a medal prospect for future university and open competitions.Her sudden death has shocked the city’s sporting fraternity, which mourned the loss of a bright talent. Vidhi’s father, Santosh, works as a tailor in their native village of Raigadh, Maharashtra.