Neeraj Chopra, the brightest prospect to bring India’s first-ever Olympic medal in athletics, proved that he is right on track for Tokyo by bettering his own javelin throw National record in the Indian Grand Prix-3 on Friday.
The 23-year-old’s 88.07m in his season-opener bettered his previous best — the 2018 Asian Games gold-winning throw — by a centimetre. The effort also carried Chopra, who had three throws above 83m, to the top of this year’s world list.
And for the first time, the top three — Shivpal Singh (silver) and the 20-year-old Sahil Silwal — went over 80m in an Indian competition.
The consistent Annu Rani, the Asian silver medallist, was also impressive in the women’s event, coming close to 62m twice before winning with 61.98m.
Meanwhile, Avinash Sable was just three seconds off his National record in the 3000m steeplechase while shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor came up with a 20m-plus throw.
Amoj improves time
Amoj Jacob improved his 400m personal best for the second successive week, bringing it down to 45.70s. M.R. Poovamma, the women’s 400m champion, finished with a double, taking the 800m gold also.
Hima Das, the only runner in the women’s 100m, clocked a personal best 11.67s.
The results: Men: 200m: 1. Muhammed Anas 21.48s, 2. Akshay Prakash 22.04, 3. Rahul Kadam 22.04; 400m: 1. Amoj Jacob 45.70s, 2. Sarthak Bhambri 47.11, 3. Jashanjot Singh 47.59; 800m: 1. Nikesh Rathod 1:53.94s, 2. Parveen Boora 1:55.03, 3. Arjun Khokhar 1:56.10; 5000m: 1. Kailash Kumar 20:19.84s; 400m Hurdles: A. Dharun 51.04s, 2. Aftab Alam 51.60, 3. Joravar Singh 55.83; 3000m steeplechase: 1. Avinash Sable 8:24.40s, 2. Naveen Dagar 8:56.36, 3. Balkishan 9:06.69.
Long jump: 1. M. Sreeshankar 7.91m, 2. Yugant Singh 7.68, 3. Muhammed Anees 7.60; Triple jump: 1. Eldhose Paul 15.80m, 2. Kamal Raj 15.67, 3. Punit Sharma; Shot put: 1. Tajinderpal Singh 20.09m, 2. Devinder Singh 18.24, 3. Sahib Singh 17.52; Javelin throw: 1. Neeraj Chopa 88.07m (NR, Old: 88.06m, self, 2018), 2. Shivpal Singh 81.63, 3. Sahil Silwal 80.65.
Women: 100m: Hima Das 11.67s; 400m: 1. M.R. Povamma 54.11s, 2. Subha Venkatesan 55.11, 3. V.K. Salini 56.50; 800m: 1. M.R. Poovamma 2:08.60s, 2. Urvashi 2:18.06, 3. Sukhwant Kaur 2:18.41; 5000m: 1. Parul Chaudhary 15:48.49, 2. Ruby Kashyap 18:23.79; 3000m steeplechase: 1. Chinta Yadav 10:27.06s, 2. Sapna Kishan 13:09.92.
Long jump: 1. Mareena George 5.97m, 2. Shiwangi Dubey 5.76, 3. Sowmiya Murugan 5.51; Javelin throw: 1. Annu Rani 61.98m, 2. Sanjana Choudhary 52.54, 3. Sharmila Kumari 50.77; Shot put: 1. Shristri Vig 16.06m, 2. Kachnar Chaudhary 14.41, 3. Tunlai Narzary 14.07 .
