Three track and field athletes, including veteran triple jumper Renjith Maheswary, Dharambir Singh and Jinson Johnson booked Rio Olympic berths with national record breaking performances in the Fourth Indian Grand Prix on Monday in Bengaluru.
Maheswary and Dharambir Singh (200m) shattered national records while Jinson Johnson ran the second fastest ever 800m race by an Indian to better Rio qualification marks on a dramatic day at Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
27-year-old Dharambir clocked 20.45 seconds that not only bettered the Rio qualification mark of 20.50 seconds but also improved his own national mark of 20.66 seconds set at the Asian Championships in China last year. He will be the first Indian to run in an Olympics 200 metre race after 36 years.
With three more track and field athletes making the Rio cut, the Indian track and field contingent will become 36 while the total number of Indian sportspersons representing India at the August games will go up to 117.
After being criticised for landing ‘no marks’ in two major events – World Championships in 2011 and 2012 Olympics, this event was crucial for Maheswary. However the Kerala athlete leaped to glory with a national record of 17.30m while also bettering Rio qualification mark of 16.85m.
Maheswary, who will be participating in his third straight Olympic Games after 2008 and 2012, has been trying to qualify for Rio since last year.
The weather was not congenial in Hyderabad (National Inter-State last month). I tried to qualify in Thailand but fouled a couple of jumps. The runway here is good and that helped me accomplish my dream of making it to Rio.Renjith Maheswary
On Monday, his third round jump of 16.93 m did the trick and having achieved the qualification, Maheswary made a big leap of 17.30 m that not only regained his national record back but also placed him third in the current world rankings behind American athletes Christian Taylor (17.76) and Will Claye (17.65).
Half-miler Johnson of Kerala virtually ran a ‘solo race’ to clock 1:45.98 secs and better the Rio qualifying norm of 1:46.00 in men’s 800m. 25-year-old Johnson’s time was the second best ever by an Indian at this distance after legendary Sriram Singh’s marvellous 1:45.77 effort which placed him at seventh in the Montreal Olympics 40 years ago.
I have been waiting for this moment. The weather and track were good today which helped me achieve the target.Jinson Johnson
Missed Marks
While Maheswary, Johnson and Dharambir qualified, some of the other athletes missed their mark for their respective individual events by a very close margin. Fast improving woman long jumper V Neena leaped 6.66m on her second round today to be just 4cm short of the Olympic qualification mark.
Another athlete who was a highlight in the event on Monday was javelin thrower Devender Singh, who recorded a personal best of 80.21m to win the event however the Rio mark in this event stands at 83 m.
In a similar fashion, woman javelin thrower Annu Rani delivered 59.20m against the Rio mark of 62m to win the gold. As expected Arokia Rajiv (46.24 secs) and MR Poovamma (52.85s) took the top spots in men’s and women’s 400 metre races respectively to end their Rio qualification efforts in disappointment. They are, however, expected to be in the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams in Rio.
Regarding the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams, Karnataka Athletics Association Secretary Chandrashekar Rai said that their Rio qualification is more or less confirmed.
Referring to the results of the European Championships in Amsterdam, he said:
I was awake till 2 am this morning to confirm the qualification of India’s relay teams.
International Association of Athletics Federations is expected to release a list of all qualified relay teams for Rio Olympics on Tuesday.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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