NEW DELHI:
Anju Bobby George
, the vice-president of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), highlighted the potential of steeplechase runner
Parul Chaudhary
as one to watch out for at the upcoming
Paris Olympics
.
Anju expressed her expectations for more than one medal in
javelin throw
at the event. As of now, nine
Indian track-and-field athletes
have qualified for the Olympics scheduled for July-August.
Among them are the defending gold-medallist
Neeraj Chopra
and
Kishore Jena
, both making the cut in javelin throw.
Parul gained prominence with a gold in the 5000m and a silver in the 3000m steeplechase events at the Hangzhou
Asian Games
last year. Notably, she became the first Indian woman to complete the 3000m steeplechase in less than nine minutes, marking a significant achievement in her career.
"A bunch of athletes are performing really well in the international arena from athletics. We are aiming for three (medals) in javelin," she told PTI Video on the sidelines of Bharat Sports Science Conclave on Wednesday.
"Then we have long jumpers, we have triple jumpers, steeplechase runner Parul Chaudhary is among the ones to watch out for but a lot cannot be predicted about the Olympics," she added.
A legend in her own right, who won a trailblazing world championship bronze in long jump, George said she is mighty pleased with how technology has been incorporated to improve training of athletes.
"A game-changer I can say, nothing was like this in our time, the changes that are happening in Indian sports, and sports science is playing a big role in every athlete's career.
"Every athlete is challenging his body, he needs recovery and treatment, and it was not there in India (in the past), but now we are aiming for the Olympics. We are talking about sports science, doping issues, recovery and training, so it is a game changer I can say," she said.
The other Indian athletes to have qualified for the Paris Games so far are Avinash Sable (men's 3000m steeplechase), Akashdeep Singh, Vikas Singh and Paramjeet Singh Bisht (men's 20km walk), Priyanka Goswami (women's 20km walk), and Murali Sreeshankar (men's long jump).
(With PTI inputs)
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