Indian Athletes Struggle to Meet Paris Olympics Qualification Marks at Federation Cup

Indian athletes faced a disappointing day at the ongoing Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, with long jumper Jeswin Aldrin and shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor failing to meet the Paris Olympics qualification mark.

Aldrin, who holds the national record of 8.42m, managed a best effort of 7.99m, falling short of the Olympic entry standard of 8.27m. Despite his below-par performance, Aldrin remains in contention for Paris by virtue of his rankings. He is currently placed 26th in the Road to Paris rankings and needs to stay within the top-32 by June 30 to secure his berth.

Asian record holder Toor also had a disappointing outing, with his best throw of 20.38m falling well short of the automatic qualification mark of 21.50m for the Paris Games. Toor's personal best of 21.77m came outside the qualification window last June.

With the June 30 deadline for direct entry looming, Toor will have to make the most of the remaining domestic events to improve his performance. He is scheduled to compete in the Indian GP 2 in Chennai on May 30, Indian GP 3 in Bengaluru on June 12, and National Inter State Championships in Panchkula from June 27-30.

In the men's 3000m steeplechase, Madhya Pradesh's Sumit Kumar took the top spot with a time of 8:39.67m. Reigning Asian Games champion Avinash Sable is the only Indian male steeplechaser to have booked the Paris ticket by meeting the entry standard of 8:15.00.

The last day of the competition will witness the return of Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra. Chopra, who won the historic gold medal in Tokyo, will compete in India for the first time since his triumph. He will be joined by Asian Games silver medallist Kishore Jena and Asian Championships silver medallist DP Manu, who will chase a direct ticket to Paris.

Tags: #Athletics, #FederationCup, #JeswinAldrin, #TajinderpalSinghToor, #ParisOlympics