Indian Athletics Thread ...

[sameerph]

Yes, Neeraj has been consistent in that 87-90 range. Silver is good and will also motivate him to work harder to go past that 90 mark and more to gain back that gold.

[jayakris]

I am just glad that he is staying up there. I worried that he would enjoy all the adulation after the Olympics and lose his edge. Not so. That is good. Yes, this should motivate him to work hard for more. Having somebody just ahead (and not totally out of reach) is a good thing.

[srini]

Yes, he is someone who can take all the adulation in stride and continues to be humble as person… no hype or boasting going into a competition and brings all focus into fore. Better things are bound to come for him with that attitude

[Sin Hombre]

“I have to congratulate Peters and Jakub,” said the Indian superstar. “I didn’t feel good during my first three throws. My warm-up was not good; I felt something in my groin during my throw but I think it is OK. Throwing in this wind was also a learning experience. But we have the World Championships again next year, so I will try to do better in Budapest.”

[sameerph]

I was about to say that maybe Neeraj has stagneted at this level but just saw that top 4 throws of his career have all come in last month or so. 88.39 and 88.13 in this world Championships and 89.94 in Diamond League, Stockholm and 89.30 in Finland meet in June. His previous best was 88.06 at Jakarta Asian Games.

So, he has indeed improved this year and it will be only a matter of time before he add those couple of meters which will put him ahead of rest of the competition.

[srini]

Far from stagnation at this age..I think throwers mature and peak at later 20s to early 30s.For discus, shotput etc it’s definitely 30s but for Javelin i’m not so sure..maybe late 20s only for javelin so if he can take care of being niggle free for major competitions like this (today’s groin thing is definitely a niggle as he usually starts with big throws) he can keep India in medal brackets in all these major competitions for next 6 years

[suresh]

I am just glad that he is staying up there. I worried that he would enjoy all the adulation after the Olympics and lose his edge. Not so. That is good. Yes, this should motivate him to work hard for more. Having somebody just ahead (and not totally out of reach) is a good thing.

He moved out of India for his training and so was "far from the madding crowd". Sable also spent three months in the US but did not have enough exposure at the highest level to be in the reckoning for a medal. I hope he (Sable) get to participate in Diamond league events to have a variety of strategies.

[sameerph]

There will be another Neeraj vs Anderson clash in couple of weeks time in commonwealth games. It will be a strong field at CWG for Javelin. Apart from Anderson and Neeraj, there is 2012 olympic champion Keshorn Walcott and Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem who will be there. So, it will be tough for our second javelin thrower Rohit Yadav to win a medal.

Still, this should turn out to be our best medal tally in Athletics in CWG held abroad. We had 3 medals each in athletics in last 2 commonwealth games. Before that we had 9 medals in 2010 Delhi CWG.

This time, Javelin there is a chance for 1 or 2 medals, chance of 1 or 2 medals in mens long jump and triple jump. There are medal chances in womens Javelin (Annu Rani), Womens discus (Navjeet Dhillon), Mens 3000M steeplchase where Avinash Sable has to contend with Kenyans, Tejswin Shankar with an outside chance in mens high jump. Hope we get at least 5-6 medals this time in Athletics at CWG.

[SaniaFan]

Unfortunately Neeraj Chopra is ruled out of the commonnwealth games as he has been advised 1 month rest my his medical team after an MRI scan. So one sure medal gone for India.

[sameerph]

Our mixed relay team won silver behind USA at the world junior athletics championships which is going on in Cali, Colombia with a new Asian junior record-

ndian Mixed Relay team wins silver at U-20 World Athletics Championship; creates new Asian record

[jayakris]

^^^ That is great! Here is the video of the finish. So close to the USA. And terrific to hear "The United State wins, India second, and Jamaica for the bronze". In a track event!

[jayakris]

Priya Mohan and Rupal seem to be world class. Will they be ready for something good by the next Olympics?

[Atithee]

These are the days we hope and live for. Well done team India.

[Mugundan]

Priya Mohan and Rupal seem to be world class. Will they be ready for something good by the next Olympics?

Still a long way off!
In world listss this year, Priya (52.37) is at 150th and Rupal (52.48) at 171.
In world under-20 lists, Priya is 6th and Rupal 9th
In Commonwealth senoior lists, Priya is at 54th
I would prefer to wait and watch next two or three years and see where they are headed. Especially Rupal. Her PB till last year was 53.73. She is supposed to be 17 years old.

[sameerph]

Rupal made it to the individual 400M final with a PB of 52.27 sec. She was second best among qualifiers although 2-3 below her are all close together.

Priya Mohan finished overall 10th with 53.22.