Around this time last year, three Indian long jumpers and triple jumpers qualified for the World Athletics Championships in Oregon. And a few days after that, the country won the triple jump gold and silver at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The 25th Asian Championships begin in Bangkok on Wednesday and though a country is eligible for two berths in every event.
That includes the javelin throw where Neeraj Chopra is the Olympic champion and the current World No. 1 and where Indians occupy three of the top four slots in this year’s Asian list. And in long jump, Jeswin Aldrin and M. Sreeshankar are currently the World No. 1 and 2.
While Neeraj and 3000m steeple chaser Avinash Sable have skipped Bangkok to focus on next month’s World Championships in Budapest, strangely some of the top athletes are either injured or have fitness issues after coming up with stellar shows earlier in the season. And Karanveer Singh, the second entry in the men’s shot put, has been withdrawn from the Asians at the last minute after failing a dope test.
“I will do good here, body feels good, field looks good too…will be a nice competition,” Sreeshankar told The Hindu on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games high jump bronze medallist and National record-holder Tejaswin Shankar will be making his decathlon debut in a major championship and that should be an interesting event to follow too.
