New Delhi: Indian contingent led by Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra will surely look out to make a mark in the 18th edition of the World Athletics Championships. The event is set to commence on July 15 in Oregon, the USA with more than 200 nations participating. For India, the only medal at the event came back in 2003 when Anju Bobby George won a bronze medal in Paris, in 2022 the Indian athletes will try to add medals to the tally.
India’s performance in track and field events has not been great in the past. The nation has managed to secure one medal each at World Championships and Olympics. But, with the experience of various international events and improved performances, there are chances for India to create history.
Here is the list of 5 athletes to look out for in the World Championships:
1. Neeraj Chopra (Men’s Javelin Throw)
Neeraj needs no introduction as his Olympic gold is enough to tell about his hard work and perseverance. Chopra recently won 2 silver medals at Paavo Nurmi Games and Diamond League, Stockholm respectively. He threw for 89.94 m in the Diamond League breaking his own national record.
With Johannes Vetter withdrawing from the event due to an injury, the only athlete that seems to be in between Neeraj Chopra’s path to gold is Anderson Peters of Grenada. Peters has hit this season’s best throw of 93.07 m.
2. Avinash Sable (Men’s 3000 m Steeplechase)
After narrowly missing the qualification mark for the Olympics finals, Avinash Sable trained and broke his own record in the Diamond League, Rabat. He ran the distance with timing of 8m:12s:48ms, creating a new national record. According to his coach Scott Simmons, he can run the final 400 m in 56 seconds while the best in the world do it in 53-54 seconds. If not in the upcoming tournament, Sable is ready to hit that mark soon.
3. Annu Rani (Women’s Javelin Throw)
In the last World Championships in Doha, she became India’s first woman javelin thrower to reach the finals and she will be aiming at doing better this time. Though she was not able to produce a good performance at the Olympics, her personal best throw of 63.82 m tells what she is capable of. She has the stage set for her to improve from the 8th position she secured in 2019.
4. Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Men’s Shot Put)
Tajinderpal Singh is surely India’s best thrower to date as he holds the national and the Asian record for shot put with a throw of 21.49 m. At the Tokyo Olympics, his performance was far below his standards as he was suffering from a shoulder injury.
This time he will look to better his performance and at least reach the finals of Men’s Shot Put.
5. Murali Sreeshankar (Men’s Long Jump)
Anju Bobby George got a bronze in 2003 in the long jump, youngster Sreeshankar has raised India’s hope for replicating something similar. His improvement can be noted from the fact that he hit 7.62 m in Doha in 2019 and 7.69 m in the last Olympics, but he has touched the 8.20 m mark twice this season.
There are higher chances of him ending up in the list of top 5 jumpers, and who knows, he might get his hands on a medal too.
