Indian Athletics Thread ...

[arjun2761]

So did some analysis of our mixed relay chances at Tokyo.

If Hima can come back and improve by 2s from her current performances in 2019, which in itself sounds impossible, but is only 0.5s faster than what she ran as an 18 year old at the Asian Games last year before her spectacular regression this year (does anyone have theories on why?), we will be the clear 5th fastest team in the world behind the US, Jamaica, Bahrain (puke!) and GB.

It is not impossible for 1 of those teams in front of us to mess up on the start or on the baton exchange (always seems to happen) and another of those teams to have one athlete caught doping (like it happened with Bahrain at the Asian Games) to allow us to sneak in.

That said, very faint chance and needs Hima to get over whatever is ailing her this year (hopefully not lack of spinach).

Looking at the splits at the IAAF site, our men did really well in the mixed 4x400 relay. Anas (with a 45.6) was 3rd in the first leg and Nirmal Noah Tom with an astonishing 44.9 was also the tied 3rd fastest among those that ran the final leg. I suspect the running start does skew the later splits a little. Our second leg did a 52.3 split which was 7th best while our 3rd leg did a 53.0 split which was the slowest among all the 32 runners.

[jayakris]

Anyway, congratulations to the all-Kerala relay team. I had actually not noticed this guy Nirmal Noah Tom before, at all.

[Sin Hombre]

Anu Rani won a bronze in Asian games 2014 when she must have been 22 with an effort of 59.53. Then, in 2016 she won crossed 60M in national open when she was 24. So, going by her those efforts this improvement 3-5 years from those marks looks ok. It seems in the intervening period she had gone down- probably some injury issues. In March this year, she had thrown 62.34 and has been throwing consistently above 60 in international meets since then.

Actually 62.43 for fifth place is a bit high as other seems to have under-performed. Of course she will have to improve by 2-3 meters more to have any chance of a medal at world level which may be beyond her. But, if she maintains this level or may be improve to around 63M level, she will still be likely to finish in top 8 which is vary rare for us in Athletics at world level.

She also threw 53m at the Asian Games late last year which makes the sudden jump a bit concerning.

Looking at the splits at the IAAF site, our men did really well in the mixed 4x400 relay. Anas (with a 45.6) was 3rd in the first leg and Nirmal Noah Tom with an astonishing 44.9 was also the tied 3rd fastest among those that ran the final leg. I suspect the running start does skew the later splits a little. Our second leg did a 52.3 split which was 7th best while our 3rd leg did a 53.0 split which was the slowest among all the 32 runners.

The 3rd leg was the one where she ran into an athlete finishing leg 2 and probably lost a second, if not more.

[Sin Hombre]

Anyway, congratulations to the all-Kerala relay team. I had actually not noticed this guy Nirmal Noah Tom before, at all.

You should get on the Nihal Sarin bandwagon as far as Malayalees go.

[sameerph]

Anu Rani won a bronze in Asian games 2014 when she must have been 22 with an effort of 59.53. Then, in 2016 she won crossed 60M in national open when she was 24. So, going by her those efforts this improvement 3-5 years from those marks looks ok. It seems in the intervening period she had gone down- probably some injury issues. In March this year, she had thrown 62.34 and has been throwing consistently above 60 in international meets since then.

Actually 62.43 for fifth place is a bit high as other seems to have under-performed. Of course she will have to improve by 2-3 meters more to have any chance of a medal at world level which may be beyond her. But, if she maintains this level or may be improve to around 63M level, she will still be likely to finish in top 8 which is vary rare for us in Athletics at world level.

She also threw 53m at the Asian Games late last year which makes the sudden jump a bit concerning.

That 53 looks an aberration considering that Annu has been throwing between 58 and 60 in last 3-4 years and this year has been consistently throwing above 60.

In the final here, she finished with a best throw of 61.12M and ended up 8th. Not bad at all. But, of course will need to go above 65 for any chance of a medal at this level.

[jaydeep]

At 2019 World Athletics Championships, Doha, Qatar

P.C. to SAIMedia twitter handle

Men's 3000 meters Steeplechase Final
13. Avinash Sable (IND) 8:21.37s (NR)

Another impressive run by Avinash Sable in the Men's 3000 meters steeplechase final ... He finished the race with the timing of 8:21.37s, this was the new national record, but importantly, he has secured a place in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as his timing was within the qualifying cutoff of 8:22.00 ... This was the 4th time in the last one year he’s broken the NR established by Gopal Saini in 1981 (8:30.88s).

[sameerph]

Excellent performance by Avinash Sable. He ran his pen race and did not try to be overambitious and compete with leaders.
He has shaved off more than 30sec in last 1 year. Can he shave off 15-20 sec more in next 10 months to be a medal hope at Tokyo ? Looks a tall order. More realistic is aim for gold at next Asiad.

[Sin Hombre]

This guy's improvement looks real; poor guy, went to the army and really only started running at 21.

Very impressive performance in an event dominated by Kenyans and Ethiopians and Asians generally nowhere to be found.

[sameerph]

Performances in mens javelin have really come down in this world championships which ended yesterday. Greneda's Anderson Peters won gold with a throw of 86.89M. The German who were so all conquering last year were disappointing. The best German performance was a bronze by Vetter.

Neeraj Chopra had won gold at Asiad with a throw of 88.96M and at CWG with a throw of 86.47M ( where the world champion Peters could only win a bronze). So, Neeraj would surely have stood a chance of winning a medal here had he been fit. Hopefully, he will recover and start competing soon. He surely is in with a fair chance of winning our first Athletics medal ever at Tokyo Olympics.

[Dinakaran]

In qualification, 1 German guy threw 89M and Estonia guy threw 88M. So might be some other factor like wind kept every one to low distance in final

[sameerph]

Probably true but what I imply that it is still within the range for Neeraj. None crossed 90M here.

[Dinakaran]

world championship is almost over. Our performance is disappointing, still comparatively it is better to previous championships. IAAF assisgns points for top 8 finishes as well. That way we got 3 points with 1 7th place and 1 8th place finish. This put us in 58 position in overall ranking, which is okay comparatively. On Asian standards, only China, Japan,Qatar and Bahrain are above us.Avinash was the pick of the tournament for us with 2 back to back national records out of 3 national records that were broken. Surprise was Annu's performance with national record. Lots of disappointments with our strong quarter-milers failed in all except mixed relay. Also I personally had hope on Jinson, but very bad result. Rest of guys, talks about Olympic medal as soon as they get qualified to big event like this, but results shown what is the real scenario. Hate Dutee interview telling she is preparing in nights to adjust to Doha conditions.

Based on this, I believe our best hopes for Olympic is mixed relay. Considering we beat Bahrain in Asian games, who are world class team, I have some hopes on it, we run good on particular day. Also have some hopes on neeraj, if he recovers fast.

[arjun2761]

The only Indian with a medal chance at Tokyo will likely be Neeraj Chopra and that is assuming that he comes back from injury and gets back to his previous best quickly. For the others, making the top 8 is likely as good as it gets.

Don't think Avinash Sable has any chance at a medal, there are probably many others in Ethiopia and Kenya who are faster than him but only a few can run in the WC and Olympics. Likewise, the mixed relay team will require significant improvement from 4 athletes, so would be really surprised if they are medal contenders even if they make the top 8.

[Mugundan]

It is true that Neeraj Chopra could be the only medal contender for India in Tokyo provided he completely recovers and starts throwing in the range of 85-87m consistently by then. Many commentators and reports have looked at the 86-plus by Peters for gold in Doha, without taking into consideration there would be a dozen others comparable to Chopra in Tokyo with higher personal bests.
As for mixed relay we should not forget that Hima Das timed a leg of 52.75 in the Asian Games (where she had her NR of 50.79) and there is no guarantee, even if she comes back, she is going to clock far better than that. Six teams ahead of us in Doha were sub-3:15. With Hima Das in Asian Games, India clocked 3:15.71.

[arjun2761]

Tejinder Pal Toor breaks the shot put national record with a throw of 20.92 mts. He could be our first 21 mt shot putter. Not really a contender at the world level but among the best in Asia.