Neeraj Chopra star attraction at Federation meet
Neeraj Chopra star attraction at Federation meet
Toor will aim to qualify in shot put after missing Bengaluru IGP
BHUBANESWAR: Buoyed by the qualification of the men's and women's 4x400m relay squads for the Paris Olympics, India's top athletes including Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, Asian champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor and former World Junior medallist Shaili Singh are expected to be in action during the Olympic season at the 27th National Federation Senior Athletics competition beginning here on Sunday.
Chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair said he was not expecting any stunning performances from the competitors. "Most of the athletes are getting into competition mode and they all have time till the Inter-State meet scheduled at the end of next month to improve their rankings or to make the automatic qualification mark. A few of them who are now training abroad like steeplechaser Avinash Sable and javelin thrower Annu Rani have all but made the cut," Nair told TOI at the Kalinga Stadium here.
Though Rani is yet to touch the automatic qualification mark of 64m, the Indian star is 23rd in the Road to Paris ranking list. A total of 32 athletes will compete in women's javelin throw at the Games. Sable is one of the 13 athletes who have made the cut in men's 3000m steeplechase so far having gone under the qualification mark of 8:15 by clocking 8:11.63s in Poland last year.
The four-day meet throws up opportunities for the likes of men's shot put champion Toor, who missed action at the Indian Grand Prix in Bengaluru. On his day, Toor will surely go past the automatic qualification mark of 21.5m which is below his personal best and Asian record of 21.77m set at the Inter-State meet here two years back.
"We are getting closer to our dream"
One of India's top men's quarter-milers Amoj Jacob said the Indian athletes do not fear their rivals any more. "We now have the confidence that we can beat any team. Even at the World relays we were expecting to do another 2:58 race but then Rajesh Ramesh got injured," said Jacob who anchored India at the recent World Relays in Bahamas.
"After going through the grind, we don't have any fear of losing. With 4-5 runners who can run in the 45 seconds range, we are confident of doing well at the Olympics. The next few months are going to be crucial as we need to hit peak performance and stay injury free. If we can do that we can clock in the 2:57s range which could win us a medal. We are getting closer to our dream," he added. Botswana had clocked 2:57.27s to win the bronze in Tokyo.
Day 1 Finals: Men: Pole vault (5.40 pm); 400mH (6.10 pm).
Women: 400mH (6.30pm); Javelin throw (6.40 pm); Triple jump (7.05pm); 5000m (8.40pm).
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