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Upward curve: No longer intimidated by the best, Indian athletes give reason to smile
India's athletes are starting to perform on the big stage and that is a promising sign ahead of the Paris Olympics
The sight of Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra and compatriot Kishore Kumar Jena wrapped in the Indian tricolour after a gold-silver finish in the men's javelin evoked a feeling of euphoria. And it wasn't just the medals but the manner of their victory that was truly world class.
Read here: Asian Games 2023: 100 medals? India on track to strike ambitious target
Pushed by his lesser-known compatriot, the newly-crowned world champion Chopra had to bring out his season's best throw (88.88) to defend his title. Jena bettered his personal best mark twice and eventually his 87.54m heave won him the second place and a lovely bonus of a Paris Olympic berth. To add some context to Jena's throw: It was the fifth best in the world this season and it would've been big enough to earn him a bronze medal at the Worlds in Budapest and a silver at the Tokyo Olympics!
That was incomprehensible a year ago when Jena's best stood at 78.05m. But the impact of Chopra has been such that Indian throwers are touching new heights in every tournament. Neeraj had Jena and young Manu DP, who is also throwing close to 85m mark, for company in 12-thrower elite final in Budapest Worlds. Come the Paris Olympics next year and India will have soaring expectations from its band of javelin throwers.
If the spear took flight in the Hangzhou skyline -- thanks to Neeraj and Jena, the rest of India's track and field contingent has performed remarkably too. Coming in a year of the Olympics qualification, the results augur well.
In Tokyo, 16 Indian athletes, and two relay teams (4x400 mixed and 4x400 men's) qualified. The number is expected to swell this time as more quota places will be confirmed from world rankings (50% of qualification places based on achieving the entry standard and 50% based on the world rankings within the ranking period).
At the Asian Games in Hangzhou, India's medal haul from track and field is 29 (6G-14S-9B) -- a big jump from 20 medals from the last edition four years ago. Though India had eight gold in Jakarta.
Since Tokyo Olympics, the performance of Indian athletes at the international level has been impressive. At the world championships in Budapest, India had its biggest-ever squad (28). At the Asian Championships, the medal count boost was significant -- 27 (6-12-9) compared to 16 medals in 2019 Doha. The Hangzhou show was just the icing on the cake.
In some disciplines, the results this season have been world class. In long jump, Murali Sreeshankar has been rubbing shoulders with the world's best and making it to the podium in big events, be it Commonwealth Games, or in Hangzhou where he finished with a silver medal --8.19m-- and gave a fright to gold medallist China’s Wang Jianan (8.22m) --- the 2022 world champion. The Palakkad jumper has already qualified for Paris Olympics and his personal best of 8.41 in the 4th best in the world this season. The world championships were an aberration for Sreeshankar -- he finished 12th -- but he has quickly bounced back.
Long distance runners Avinash Sable and Parul Chaudhary will be also looking to put all their efforts towards the Olympics, having made the cut for Paris well in advance, Sable's run at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year when he beat a pack of Kenyans to clinch silver was inspirational. The Worlds were a disappointment and he could not qualify for the final but in Hangzhou, he imposed himself finishing way ahead of the field in 3000m steeplechase. The silver in 5000m came as a bonus.
Like Sable, Parul has improved considerably in recent times. It was the first time that India won the women’s 5000m. She was trailing for most part but the burst of speed on the home stretch surprised Japan’s Ririka Hironaka right at the finishing line. Her silver in 3000m steeplechase was in a new personal best time of 9:27.63 and was equally impressive with only Bahraini world champion Winfred Yavi better.
The long-distance runners have gained from their long stints at Colorado Springs, as they train with Kenyan and Ethiopian runners with foreign coach Scott Simmons giving them the right kind of guidance.
The big surprise came from the seasoned Annu Rani, who was lying low throughout the season but brought her best to the table at the Asian Games with a 62.92m throw to stun China's Lü Huihui, a three-time world championships medallist.
Read here: Prannoy battles his way to Asian Games medal, Sindhu bows out in quarterfinals
After their inspiring performance at the world championships where they broke the Asian record and finished 5th, the men's relay team -- Muhammed Anas, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh-- continued their hot streak in Hangzhou. They will be the one to watch out as the race to Paris heats up.
When it comes to major competitions, Indian athletes are now a regular feature in World Continental tour and Diamond League meets. They are no longer intimidated by the world's best and, in a sense, that is where it all begins.
