Athletics has risen to the statute of gaining the attention of Indian sports fans, majorly due to the poster boy of Indian Athletics Neeraj Chopra, who has made the nation proud on the global stage on multiple occasions. Neeraj has an Olympic gold, the first in the history of Indian track and field, and is the current World Champion. However, there are a lot of developments on the sidelines, and we can believe that India will potentially have more track and field medals at the Paris Olympics.
After a successful Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where the Indian Athletics contingent secured 8 medals, including the heroic 3000m steeple chase silver medal by Avinash Sable, Indian athletes started their international circuit at the Asian Athletics Championship in Thailand in July.
The event held the direct ticket to qualification for the World Championship in Budapest, Hungary. Indian contingent proved their dominance at the continent level. The Indian team secured 6 gold medals, 16 silver and 9 bronze medals at the meet, and ended in the third position of the tally, only next to Japan and China. India doubled its medals from the 2015 edition in Wuhan and bettered its record of 16 medals in the 2019 edition at Doha. The performance was better in terms of the number of medals from the 2017 edition on the home turf when India finished at the top with 10 golds and a total of 29 medals.
India’s Krishna Kumar secured a silver medal in the 800m men’s event, while Ajay Kumar Saroj turned out to be the Asian Champion of 1500m. Gulveer Singh and Abhishek Pal secured a bronze each in the longer events of 5000m and 10000m respectively.
Indian men performed well in the field events too, with Abdulla Aboobacker and Tajinder Singh Toor securing the title of Continental champions of Triple Jump and Shot Put respectively, while D.P. Manu, in the absence of Neeraj Chopra, secured a silver medal in Javelin Throw. High Jumper Sarvesh Anil Kushare also secured a high jump silver medal at the championship. The men’s 4x400m relay team won a silver medal, but their peak performance of the year was yet to arrive.
In the women’s category, the talented Jyothi Yarraji announced her arrival with a gold medal in the 110m hurdles and a silver medal in the 200m. Parul Chaudhary also asserted her dominance with a 3000m Steeple chase gold and silver medal at the 5000m. Long jumper Shaili Singh, Shot putter Abha Khatua and Heptathlete Swapna Barman won a silver medal each in their respective events.
World Athletics Championship (Budapest, Hungary) (August 2023)
A 28-athlete contingent, including 23 male and 5 female athletes represented India at the prestigious event. Neeraj Chopra qualified for the World Championship through the Lausanne Diamond League, where he threw 89.08, way ahead of the 85.20 qualification mark for the global platform. Asian Champion Tajinder Pal Toor couldn’t participate in the event due to a groin injury.
Indian 4x400m Men’s relay team’s legendary moment
The event witnessed two of the most epic moments in Indian athletics history. It was the qualifying preliminary race for the 4x400m men’s relay final. The Indian team comprised Mohammad Anas, Amoj Jacob, Rajesh Ramesh and Muhammad Ajmal. During the event, India almost defeated the USA, which would have been an impact moment. However, the team finished a fraction short of the USA team and ended up with the Asian record.
At the finals, a bit of falling and interruption from the other tracks denied India a medal. Still, the team ran the mile with a below 3-minute effort, finishing fifth.
First Gold Medal for India at the World Athletics Championship
The reigning world champion Anderson Peters failed to qualify for the finals. Neeraj Chopra dominated the Javelin throw event the moment he threw the third time with 88.17 meters. However, his friend and competitor Arshad Nadeem from Pakistan threw consecutively over 87 meters, bringing some intensity to the finals. Ultimately, he couldn’t surpass Neeraj Chopra, and India received its first World Champion in the track and field. Kishore Jena and D.P. Manu finished fifth and sixth in the finals.
Asian Games (Hangzhou, China) (September-October, 2023)
The Asian Games in Hangzhou was the most successful campaign for India, with India gaining more than a hundred medals for the first time. India finished with 28 golds, 38 silver and 41 bronze medals, totalling 107 and ending up at the fourth position in the medal tally. Most of the medals came from Athletics.
Indian Track and Field contingent secured 6 gold medals, 14 silver and 9 bronze medals, finishing as the third-best contingent in terms of position and the second in terms of the number of medals. This was even with the 2018 Jakarta Games of 20 medals, including 8 golds, and twice better than the Incheon Games in 2014, where India only managed 13 medals, with just 2 gold medals.
For India, Neeraj Chopra, Avinash Sable, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, and the men’s 4x400m relay team clinched the gold medals. The women athletes Annu Rani and Parul Choudhary won gold in the Javelin and 5,000m events respectively. Harmilan Bains secured two silver medals in 800m and 1500m respectively, while Parul Choudhary also secured a silver medal in the 3000m Steeple Chase event.
Road to Olympics
The Olympics is an entirely different event, and it won’t be easy to clinch medals in bulk. However, the promising performances by the 4x400m men’s relay team, long jumper Murali Sreeshankar and Tajinder Singh Toor will be promising a tough contention.
While Neeraj Chopra will step on the field to defend his gold, Kishore Jena, the latest Javelin sensation will throw a contention, and who knows, we have a couple of proud men on the medal stand in Paris for the same event, which would be the first in the history of the country!