Neeraj Chopra, Kishore Jena among big names to compete at Bhubaneswar athletics meet

The country’s top quarter milers, after successfully booking Olympic berths in the 4x400m relay event at the just concluded World Athletics Relay in Bahamas, will test themselves in an individual event in the city. “Will be running an individual 400m here in Odisha to improve my world ranking,” was Amoj Jacob’s response during a media interaction on Saturday. Apart from Jacob, Muhammad Ajmal (men), Jyothika Sri Dandi and Subha V (women) will be seen in action during the four-day competition.

Talking about the event, the chief athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair said, “Never expect any remarkable performance from the athletes in this season’s beginner event here. It will be more a platform for the elite athletes and their coaches to make an assessment of their preparation for the Paris Olympics.”

Nair further said, “The 63rd National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships from June 27 to 30 in Panchkula, Haryana, will be the last domestic competition for the athletes to make the cut for the Paris Games. The qualification deadline is June 30. It is mandatory for all athletes to compete in Panchkula to prove themselves. There are a few exceptions but the majority of aspiring athletes aiming to make the Olympic cut will be in action in Panchkula.”

According to the chief athletics coach, the race walking event has been scrapped in Panchkula as the core group of race walkers who have qualified for the Olympics wanted more time to recover from the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships held on April 21 in Turkey. “Five male race walkers have achieved Paris Olympic Games qualification time, but only the top three will be selected for the Olympic Games scheduled to be held in Paris from July 26.”