 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Several Indian athletes secured their spots for the upcoming Paris Olympics, with Jyothi Yarraji becoming the country's first female 100m hurdler to qualify.
The World Athletics released its official list, including those who achieved automatic qualification by meeting the entry standards and those who made it through world rankings.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will finalize the selections based on the world ranking quota by July 4th.
Yarraji narrowly missed the automatic qualifying time by a hundredth of a second, clocking 12.78 seconds in Finland.
Despite this, her 34th position in the world ranking puts her in contention for a spot, as 40 athletes will compete in the event.
Abha Khatua's story is one of surprise. Though she didn't initially qualify through rankings, her gold medal performance at the National Inter-State Championships propelled her to 23rd place, securing her a spot in the shot put competition (limited to 32 athletes).
High jumper Sarvesh Anil Kushare and javelin thrower DP Manu also achieved qualifying positions. However, Manu's recent doping violation will prevent him from competing, while Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Jena had already secured direct qualification in javelin throw.
Long jumper Jeswin Aldrin narrowly missed the cut, placing just outside the qualifying positions. Notably, another long jumper, M Sreeshankar, had to withdraw due to injury despite achieving automatic qualification.
In the men's 20km race walk, four Indian athletes met the qualifying mark, but the AFI needs to select only three due to the three-athlete limit per event.
The final list of Indian participants will be confirmed on July 7th after potential quota reallocation by World Athletics. This paves the way for an exciting Olympic journey for Indian athletics, with a strong contingent across various disciplines.