For first time, 100-plus Indian contingent for Olympics

Rohit Mahajan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 26

Mohammad Anas is not a household name in our country, but at least sports fans should learn his name — he’s the new 400m national record-holder.

Anas is a very proud man today. For the first time ever, India would send over 100 competitors to the Olympics — and Anas became the 100th Indian to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, less than six weeks away.

Today was a good day for Indian track and field athletes — two of them broke national records to qualify for the Olympics. Anas broke the 400m record in Bydgoszcz (Poland) when he clocked 45.40s to book a berth for the Rio Games. Ankit Sharma, a 23-year-old long jumper from Haryana, also qualified for the Olympics with a jump of 8.19m in Bydgoszcz, breaking the three-year-old national record of 8.09m.

Odisha’s 24-year-old Srabani Nanda also qualified for Rio when she timed 23.07s in the 200m at Almaty (Kazakhstan). She is the second Indian sprinter to make it to Rio — Dutee Chand had qualified for Rio’s women’s 100m competition yesterday.

India had sent a contingent of 83 to the 2012 London Olympics, and this year the contingent is already significantly bigger. India had won six medals in London, including two silver and four bronze. Can the larger contingent to Rio match or exceed that number? Well, it is possible, but it would be prudent to remain realistic.

As in London, India’s best medal hopes lie in shooting, wrestling, badminton, boxing and tennis. The men’s hockey team has raised hopes in recent times, but the team is ranked No. 7 in the world and would need to perform at a very high level to reach the semifinals.

The number of track and field athletes who’ve qualified for the Olympics rose to 23 today, but only an extreme optimist would dare to expect a medal.

Consider this — Dutee’s best in 100m is 11.24s; at London 2012, the slowest qualifier for the eight-woman final had clocked 11.01s. Srabani Nanda clocked 23.07s today, and the slowest finalist at London had clocked 22.56. In Anas’ event, the slowest qualifier for the final had timed 44.99 —  much, much better than Anas’45.40 today.

So we must limit our hopes, but we must also honour these athletes who are the best we have.