New Delhi: The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) announced Monday a 26-member team to compete in the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo. Ace sprinter, Odisha’s Dutee Chand has also been named in the squad. Dutee Chand (women’s 100m and 200m), MP Jabir (men’s 400m hurdles), Gurpreet Singh (men’s 50km race walk) and Annu Rani (women’s javelin throw) have been assured of entries on the strength of their rankings. Gurpreet is the latest inclusion assured of qualification, according to the AFI.
The 26-member team includes 16 athletes, who will compete in the individual events, five male athletes for the men’s 4x400m relay event and two men and three women for the mixed 4x400m relay. All three women set to compete in the mixed 4x400m relay were picked by the federation on the basis of trials held on Sunday.
The athletics events start July 31 and will run through August 9.
AFI President Adille J. Sumariwalla said the federation is looking forward to a good show by the team.
“We are happy that it is a well prepared team, physically and emotionally, for the Olympic Games. The world has been through a lot and athletes have been challenged to stay in good shape, retain form and in good spirits,” Sumariwalla said. “We are pleased that our athletes have remained in training ever since lockdown was lifted,” he said.
Sumariwalla said it was significant that 12 individual athletes and the 4x400m mixed relay team had attained the Entry Standards, laid down by World Athletics, to secure automatic berths.
The squad
Men: Avinash Sable (3000m Steeplechase); MP Jabir (400m Hurdles): M Sreeshankar (Long Jump); Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Shot Put); Neeraj Chopra and Shivpal Singh (Javelin Throw); KT Irfan, Sandeep Kumar and Rahul Rohilla (20km Walk) and Gurpreet Singh (50km Walk); (4x400m Relay): Amoj Jacob, Arokia Rajiv, Muhammed Anas, Naganathan Pandi, Noah Nirmal Tom; (4x400m Mixed Relay): Sarthak Bhambri, Alex Antony.
Women: Dutee Chand (100m and 200m); Kamalpreet Kaur and Seema Antil-Punia (Discus Throw), Annu Rani (Javelin Throw); Bhawna Jat and Priyanka Goswami (20km Walk) and (Mixed 4x400m Relay): Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan & Dhanlakshmi Sekhar.