On Road To Paris, Top Athletes Hope To Excel In National Inter-State Athletics

State Senior Athletics Championship: With just a month to go for the Paris Olympics 2024, top athletes of the country including steeplechaser Avinash Sable, hurdler Jyothi Yarraji, shot-putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor and long jumper Shaili Singh besides the Mixed 4x400m relay team will be in action in the 63rd National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championship, starting here on Thursday.

Besides Yarraji and Shaili Singh and the Mixed 4x400 relay team, many other top Indian athletes will be hoping to achieve the qualification marks for the Paris Olympic Games at the four-day event to be held at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula, Haryana.

Though Neeraj Chopra, who has already qualified for the Olympics, will give the Inter-Stage the miss, Kishore Kumar Jena, the other Indian to breach the Olympic qualification mark in javelin throw has been listed to participate in Panchkula.

This will be the final chance for the Indian athletes to qualify for the Olympics on home soil.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has high hopes for the mixed relay team with AFI president Adille Sumariwalla saying the "Mixed 4x400m relay team has a good chance to qualify for Paris Olympic Games". Sumariwalla expressed his opinion during the pre-event press conference in Panchkula on Wednesday.

James Hillier, Athletics Director, Reliance Foundation, said about the preparations, “Inter-state is a really important tournament because it will serve as the selection trials for the Olympics for all athletes who have not qualified automatically. It will be the last chance for some of our top athletes like Jyothi Yarraji, Tejas Shirse, Gulveer Singh and Kartik Kumar to qualify for the Paris Olympics."

Reliance Foundation athletes are gearing up to take the final stride towards qualification for the Olympic Games 2024 with 49 athletes from the organisation seen in action at Panchkula.

Hillier has high hopes for Tejas Shirse and Gulveer besides Jyothi.

"Tejas broke the national record this year and is one to definitely watch out for. Gulveer and Kartik have been doing really well too with Gulveer breaking the national record in a couple of events. The Inter-State presents a chance for them to secure their qualification for the Paris Games,” he was quoted by Reliance Foundation as saying in a release.

Top athletes like Jyothi Yarraji, Tejas Shirse, and Amlan Borgohain will start their domestic season on a high note after their impressive performances in Europe on a training as well as acclimatization tour.

Tejas broke the 7-year-old national record (set by Siddhanth Thingalaya in 2017) with an effort of 13.41s in the men’s 110-metre hurdles during the Motonet GP Jyvaskyla, Finland and followed it up by finishing second at a World Athletics Meet in Genevas last week with a timing of 13.60s.

Jyothi equalled her personal best and national record timing of 12.78s during the Motonet GP Jyvaskyla, Finland in the Women’s 100m Hurdles, despite hitting the final hurdle hard in a very impressive display

Both of them will target breaking the automatic qualification mark for the Olympics.

After multiple podium finishes in 100m and 200m events during international competitions and bettering his personal best three times in a row during the Motonet GP in Jyvaskyla, Finland, Animesh Kujur enters the event as one of the favourites in the sprint races.

Animesh marked a new personal best in 100m with 10.39s and backed it up at the XXVI Trofeo de Atletismo Ciudad de Salamanca with a timing of 20.59s in 200m and 10.27s in 100m. Animesh also clinched a bronze medal in 20.79s in the 200m at the BRICS Games 2024. Animesh's recent performance in Europe also made him the fastest Indian runner from India outside Indian soil in the sprint events.

Endurance athlete Gulveer Singh broke the 5000m national record which had stood in the name of Avinash Sable during the Portland Track Festival with a blistering time of 13:18.92. Gulveer shattered the 16-year-old national record in the 10000m event by 20 seconds during JSerra Catholic HS, San Juan Capistrano (USA) with a remarkable timing of 27:41.81. The previous record was set by Surendra Singh in 2008. He is expected to face a tough challenge from Sable who is also hoping to qualify in the 5000m.

Young javelin throwers Vikrant Malik and Sahil Silwal will aim to push fellow RF athlete and title favourite Kishore Kumar Jena in the javelin throw event.

Kishore, who has already met the direct qualification mark for the Paris Olympics, will aim to stamp his authority to ensure that he is named in India’s final squad for the Paris Olympics.