ALL EYES ON NEERAJ
Chopra brightest to win medal as India begin athletics campaign
Tokyo, July 29: Pinning their slim medal hopes on the sprightly but underprepared star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, India will begin their Olympic campaign in athletics on Friday, hoping to make amends for the disappointing performances in the last edition.
The 23-year-old Chopra, currently ranked fourth in the world, is the brightest prospect for an Olympic medal though he is short on preparations, having competed in only one topclass international event in the run-up ro the Olympics due to the
Covid-19 pandemic.
The Athletics Federation of India had planned training-cum-competition tours abroad for the athletes prior to the Games but had to cancel them due to the global travel restrictions triggered by the pandemic.
Out of the 26-member Olympic team, only Chopra was able to train and compete in Europe in early June before arriving in Tokyo on Tuesday.
He had just three international events before the Olympics but the first two were minor ones with local athletes competing.
In his only top-class international event this year, Chopra finished third with a throw of
86.79m at Kuortane Games in Finland while Tokyo Olympics gold medal hot favourite Johannes Vetter
(93.59m) of Germany won the event.
Other than Chopra, none have a realistic chance for a medal but some of them would look to qualify for the final round.
In Rio five years ago, only Lalita Babar could make it to the finals in the women’s 3000m steeple chase.
Sable will kick off proceedings on Friday, followed by Dutee Chand
(100m) and M P Jabir
(400m hurdles) in their respective heats in the morning session. The mixed 4x400m relay team will be in action in the
evening for a place in the final.
National record holder Dutee, who has qualified for Olympics on the basis of world rankings, has admitted to the gulf between her timing and that of the medal contenders and she would be looking to reach the semifinals by bettering his personal best.