Bhubaneswar
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will field a 35-member contingent, including star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra to compete at the Paris Olympic Games scheduled to start July 26 in France, Adille Sumariwalla, president AFI said here on Tuesday. “Twenty athletes have achieved automatic qualification criteria set up by World Athletics. While 11 athletes will qualify through the world ranking system,” the AFI president added. “We are expecting five more athletes to make the cut for the Olympic Games before the June 30 deadline.”
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games held in 2021 in Japan, AFI had fielded less than 30 athletes. Asian Games and World U20 record holder, Neeraj Chopra, became the first Indian athlete to win gold in Japan.
According to Adille, AFI has also made it mandatory for Paris Olympic Games aspirants to compete at the domestic competition beginning June 27 in Panchkula before the qualification deadline of June 30. “There is no exception. All athletes will have to compete at the National Inter-State Athletics meet in Haryana to prove their fitness,” Adille said here during media interaction on the sidelines of the 27th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition.
Adille, who is also one of the vice presidents of the world governing body in track and field—World Athletics—said, Indian contingent has potential to win more than one medal at the 2024 Olympic Games. “We have good chances of winning medals in javelin, 4x400m relay and long jump if the athletes perform up to their potential on a given day,” the vice president of World Athletics added.
The Indian men and women’s 4x400m relay teams qualified for the Paris Olympic Games at the just concluded World Athletics World Relays held in Bahamas on May 4 and 5. “We are hopeful that the mixed 4x400m relay team will also make the cut in the upcoming Asian relay competition in Bangkok, Thailand,” Adille said.
The AFI president said there has been gradual progression in track and field in the country. “The Indian athletics contingent has been making the cut for the finals at global level,” he added. “At the 2023 World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary, three Indian javelin throwers were in the medal round. Neeraj Chopra went on to win the gold medal.”
Meanwhile, as expected Asian Games champion, Tajinderpal Singh Toor won gold medal in the men’s shot put event and Jeswin Aldrin dominated the men’s long jump event.
Results:
Men:
3000m steeplechase: Sumit Kumar (Madhya Pradesh) 8:39.67 seconds, Dhuladev Baban (Maharashtra) 8:46.65 secs, Ankit Rajesh (Haryana) 8:46.97 secs.
Shot put: Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Punjab) 20.38m, Samardeep Singh Gill (Madhya Pradesh) 18.93m, Aryan Tyagi (Uttar Pradesh) 18.07m.
Hammer throw: Damneet Singh (Punjab) 66.28m, Ashish Jakhar (Haryana) 66.24m, Devang (Delhi) 64.75m.
Long jump: Jeswin Aldrin (Tamil Nadu) 7.99m, Arya S (Karnataka) 7.83m, Muhammed Anees (Kerala) 7.81m.
Women:
3000m steeplechase: Chhavi Yadav (Madhya Pradesh) 10:07.57 secs, Komal Chandrakant J (Maharashtra) 10:18.69 secs, Manju Ajay Yadav (Madhya Pradesh) 10:19.21 secs.
Discus throw: Nidhi Rani (Haryana) 52.55m, Shalini Chaudhary (Madhya Pradesh) 51.50m, Sunita (Haryana) 51.10m.
Pole vault: Rosy Meena Paulraj (Tamil Nadu) 4.05m, Baranica Elangovan (Kerala) 4.00m, Mariya Jaison (Tamil Nadu) 3.90m.
