look news india
New Delhi, June 26 (HS). The country's top track and field athletes will compete for a Paris Olympics berth during the National Inter-State Championships beginning here on Thursday.
The championships will serve as the final qualifying event for the upcoming Paris Games, where athletics events will begin on August 1. Incidentally, the last day of the four-day championships – June 30 – coincides with the deadline of the Olympic qualifying window.
Top javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will not be participating in the championship as he is scheduled to compete in the Paris Diamond League on July 7. He had participated in the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar last month, winning a gold medal.
Last month, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adille Sumariwala had clarified that it would be mandatory for all athletes, barring Chopra, to participate in the National Inter-State Championships to be selected for the Paris Olympics.
As per AFI rules, if an athlete is to be selected for a major multi-sport event such as the Olympics, Asian Games or Commonwealth Games, he or she must participate in the National Inter-State Championships unless the federation grants an exemption on the request of a particular athlete or his or her coach.
In Chopra's absence, the likes of Avinash Sable (men's 3000m steeplechase), Kishore Jena (men's javelin throw), Ram Babu (men's 20km walk) and Parul Chaudhary (women's 3000m steeplechase) will take part in the championships, all of whom have secured their places for the Paris Games by clearing the qualifying standards.
Other athletes who have booked tickets to Paris through world ranking quota such as Jyoti Yaraji (women's 100m hurdles), Annu Rani (women's javelin throw), DP Manu (men's javelin throw), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (men's shot put), Jaswin Aldrin (men's long jump), Praveen Chitravel and Abdullah Abubakar (both men's triple jump) are also taking part in the championships.
Rising stars like sprinter Animesh Kujur, 110m hurdler Tejas Shirse – who recently set a national record – and long jumper Shaili Singh will also be seen in action.
National record holder Manikanth Hoblidhar is also set to return to action after missing the Federation Cup and it will be interesting to see him compete in the 100m race with Kujur, Amlan Borgohain and Gurindervir Singh for the tag of the country's fastest sprinter though none of them are likely to make it to Paris.
Federation Cup 200m gold medallist Kujur will also be pitted against national record holder Borgohain in another bout.
Almost all members of the Indian men's and women's 4x400m relay teams that have booked Paris berths will compete in the individual quarter-mile events.
National record holder 20km race walker Akshdeep Singh, who has also crossed the Paris Games qualifying mark, is missing from the entry list. Women's 20km walk national record holder Priyanka Goswami, who has also qualified for the Paris Olympics, is not on the list.
There will be only three finals on the first day – women's hammer throw, men's and women's 500m race. Some athletes from Sri Lanka and Maldives are also participating in this championship.