CWG 2022: Eldhose Paul, Abdulla Aboobacker in historic 1-2 in triple jump

PTI

Birmingham, August 7

Eldhose Paul led a historic Indian 1-2 in men’s triple jump at the Commonwealth Games as he won a rare gold medal in track and field for the country. Fellow Kerala athlete Abdulla Aboobacker won the silver medal.

Paul produced his best effort of 17.03 metres on his third attempt while Aboobacker was not much behind, finishing second with a best attempt of 17.02m, which he managed in his fifth attempt.

India could have swept the podium but Praveen Chithravel could manage only 16.28m in his final attempt, when he needed a jump close to 17m to snatch the bronze from Jah-Nhai Perinchief of Bermuda, who finished third with a best effort of 16.92m.

India has won four triple jump medals in the past CWG editions but this is the first time two athletes from the country got on the podium in one edition. Mohinder Singh Gill had won a bronze and a silver in 1970 and 1974, respectively, while Renjith Maheshwary and Arpinder Singh had finished third in the 2010 and 2014 editions, respectively. There was more good news in athletics today as javelin thrower Annu Rani and race walker Sandeep Kumar bagged bronze medals.

Top double

Paul won India’s first gold medal in track and field at Birmingham 2022, and the sixth overall in the Commonwealth Games. Paul came into the event with a personal best of 16.99m this season while Aboobacker had a season’s best of 17.19m and Chithravel had a best of 17.18m. But today, Paul upstaged his two friends as he cleared 17.03m in his third attempt after two looseners of 14.62m and 16.30m in the first two attempts. He jumped to 16.43m in his fourth attempt and managed 16.43m and 16.11m in the final two tries. Aboobacker had a better start as he hit 16.57m in the first attempt and raised it to 16.62m and 16.72m in his next two jumps. He clinched the silver with a 17.02m effort in the penultimate attempt.

In women’s javelin throw, Annu Rani finished third with a best effort of 60.00m, while the reigning world champion and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Kelsey-Lee Barbar of Australia won gold in 64.43m.

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