3 Athletics events India could win medals in Tokyo Olympics
With the Tokyo Olympics lingering over the heads of the world athletes and fans, certain hopes stand tall for every sprint, run or throw, and who will shoulder India’s glory, pride and bling. The spectacular Olympics 2020 schedule is set to commence from July 24th this year, and fans and competitors from around the world can only wait and meanwhile prepare to give their best shot at this sports extravaganza.
Here are 3 Athletics events where India’s got chances of winning medals –
- 20km race walking
KT Irfan qualified for the individual event of 20km race walking. This feat made him the first Indian from athletics to qualify for Tokyo 2020. The 29-year-old clocked 1 hour 20 minutes and 57 seconds in the 20km event of the Asian Race Walking Championships in March, thus going past the Olympic qualification mark of 1 hour 21 minutes.
- 4x400m mixed relay
Muhammed Anas, Velluva Vismaya, Jisna Mathew and Noah Tom qualified for the mixed 4x400m relay by virtue of entering the final of the relay competition at the IAAF World Athletics Championships. The team finished seventh, recording a time of 3:16.14.
- 3000m steeplechase
Avinash Sable sealed his berth by clocking a national record timing of 8:21:37s in the 3000m steeplechase final at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha. Indian Army produced Sable, first failed to qualify for the Asian Games owing to an ankle injury, eclipsed a record 8:29.80 seconds garnering initial attention during the 58th National Open Athletics Championships. He then went on to qualify for the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships at Doha as well as the 2019 World Athletics Championship, also held at Doha where he pulled off a silver-medal finish. In the 2019 World Athletics Championship clocked a time of 8:21.37 seconds to finish 13th among 16 runners, and in the process qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
It’s no doubt that the number of Indian athletes participating in the Summer Olympic Games has seen a rise in each of its past three editions and all signs point to the nation’s finest continuing that trend at Tokyo Olympics 2020, and more chances for increasing the numbers for India in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Medal Tally.
