AFI to hold events on July 10 to give Rio chance to athletes

The AFI said that venue of the event will be announced next week but it is learnt that will be either Bangalore or Thiruvananthapuram.

The Athletics Federation of India has pencilled in a Grand Prix event on July 10-11 in order to give some athletes a chance to qualify for next month’s Olympics.

A record 24 track and field athletes have so far qualified for the August 5-21 Rio Olympics but the AFI feels that more can make the cut for the Games.

The AFI said that venue of the event will be announced next week but it is learnt that will be either Bangalore or Thiruvananthapuram.

July 11 is the deadline for Olympics qualification for athletics.

“The AFI announced here today that the 3rd Indian Grand Prix will be conducted on July 10—11, especially for all those events where Indian athletes have strong chances of achieving the qualification standards for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games,” the federation said in a release.

“The 3rd Indian GP will offer a last and final opportunity for Indian athletes to achieve the qualifying marks as the official deadline for qualification in athletics for Rio 2016 is July 11,” it said.