Neeraj Chopra headlines track & field team
New Delhi, July 4
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has announced a 28-member team for the Paris Games with reigning Olympics and world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra leading the pack.
Athletics team
Men: 3,000m steeplechase: Avinash Sable; Javelin throw: Neeraj Chopra, Kishore Kumar Jena; Shot put: Tajinderpal Singh Toor; Triple jump: Praveen Chithravel, Abulla Aboobacker; High jump: Sarvesh Kushare; 20km race walk: Akshdeep Singh, Vikash Singh, Paramjeet Singh Bisht; 4x400m relay: Muhammed Anas, Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob, Santhosh Tamilarasan, Rajesh Ramesh, Mijo Chacko Kurian
Women: 400m: Kiran Pahal; 3,000m steeplechase & 5,000m: Parul Chaudhary; 100m hurdles: Jyothi Yarraji; Javelin throw: Annu Rani; Shot put: Abha Khatua; 4x400m relay: Jyothika Sri Dandi, Subha Venkatesan, Vithya Ramraj, Poovamma MR, Prachi; 20km race walk: Priyanka Goswami
Mixed: Race walk: Suraj Panwar and Priyanka Goswami
Interestingly, long jumper Jeswin Aldrin and 400m runner Jisna Mathew have not been included in the list of participants from India for the track and field events that will be held at Paris’ Stade de France stadium on August 1-11. However, Jeswin will in all likelihood be part of the Paris Games contingent as he is ranked 33rd in the Road to Olympics race. Since Murali Sreeshankar is out injured, Jeswin will be included and qualify for the Games.
Jisna has not been included because of the AFI’s long-standing policy to not select athletes who are not part of the national camps. Jisna was training at the Usha School of Athletics in Kozhikode as she was reluctant to train in Thiruvananthapuram or at the SAI centre in Bengaluru.
When the decision was taken to keep the Usha School of Athletics out of the list of camps, it was mooted after deliberations with the Sports Authority of India that Jisna was to get leave of absence from the camp and be allowed to train
in Kozhikode. However, today’s omission has raised a few eyebrows as her timings in the last few races were at par, if not better, with that of the members of the 400m relay team. Jyothika Sri Dandi, Subha Venkatesan, Vithya Ramraj, Poovamma MR and Prachi have been selected ahead of Jisna.
Also, Rajesh Ramesh, whose injury resulted in the men’s relay team not finishing its race during the World Relays in Bahamas earlier this year, has been selected.
