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The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) have named the 35-member contingent for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, scheduled to take place in the months of July and August in the French capital. While the list includes star players including India’s ‘Golden Boy’ Neeraj Chopra, 20 athletes have earned automatic qualification.
While announcing the list of the athletes, AFI President Adille Sumariwalla said, “Twenty athletes have achieved automatic qualification criteria set up by the World Athletics. While 11 athletes will qualify through the world ranking system.” “We are expecting five more athletes to make the cut for the Olympic Games before the June 30 deadline,” he further added.
I t is to be n oted that AFI fielded less than 30 athletes at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021. Moreover, the AFI has made the athletes mandatory to compete at domestic competition, beginning from June 27 in Panchkula. “There is no exception. All athletes will have to compete at the National Inter-State Athletics meet in Haryana to prove their fitness,” Adille Sumariwalla said on the sidelines of the 27th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition.
List of athletes for the 2024 Paris Olympics
Men:
3000m steeplechase: Sumit Kumar (Madhya Pradesh) 8:39.67 seconds, Dhuladev Baban (Maharashtra) 8:46.65 secs, Ankit Rajesh (Haryana) 8:46.97 secs.
Shot put: Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Punjab) 20.38m, Samardeep Singh Gill (Madhya Pradesh) 18.93m, Aryan Tyagi (Uttar Pradesh) 18.07m.
Hammer throw: Damneet Singh (Punjab) 66.28m, Ashish Jakhar (Haryana) 66.24m, Devang (Delhi) 64.75m.
Long jump: Jeswin Aldrin (Tamil Nadu) 7.99m, Arya S (Karnataka) 7.83m, Muhammed Anees (Kerala) 7.81m.
Women:
3000m steeplechase: Chhavi Yadav (Madhya Pradesh) 10:07.57 secs, Komal Chandrakant J (Maharashtra) 10:18.69 secs, Manju Ajay Yadav (Madhya Pradesh) 10:19.21 secs.
Discus throw: Nidhi Rani (Haryana) 52.55m, Shalini Chaudhary (Madhya Pradesh) 51.50m, Sunita (Haryana) 51.10m.
Pole vault: Rosy Meena Paulraj (Tamil Nadu) 4.05m, Baranica Elangovan (Kerala) 4.00m, Mariya Jaison (Tamil Nadu) 3.90m.
