Ramesan misses Olympic berth by a whisker

Rajeev Ramesan missed the Olympic 'B' qualification mark in the 800 metres by just 0.06 seconds even though he won the race with a personal best timing of 1:47.06 seconds at the Nike Grand Prix in Solihull, England.

Compatriot Sajeesh Joseph finished third in 1:47.48 seconds.

Also emerging winners were Surendra Singh (5000m) and Preeja Sreedharan (10000m) while Asian champion Sinimole Paulose (1500m) placed second in her event.

Surendra was aiming to break the sub-13:25 minutes' mark but a sudden change in the weather put paid to his hopes. However, he still managed a personal best of 13:45.77 seconds, the second all-time fastest by an Indian.

Running with 65 seconds-a-lap strategy, Surendra was within 13:25 seconds with two laps to go but managed only 13:45.77s.

Earlier, Sreedharan, who has already qualified for the Olympics in 10,000 metres dominated the 5000 metres race, scoring easy victory while clocking a personal best of 15:45.61 seconds.

Paulose ran a season's best of 4:11.64 seconds in the women's 1500 metres, but finished behind winner Stephanie Twell of the UK.

The Indian athletes now head for the Watford Grand Prix, on July 2, followed by the Sollentuna Grand Prix in Stockholm (Sweden) on July 8 and Cork City Sports in Cork (Ireland) on July 12.

Surendra will also participate in Spanish 10000 metres Olympic trials on July 12.