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Tag: Indian athletics

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Behind relay team’s memorable run: New-found belief, taskmaster coach

After India’s Russian-American 400 metre chief coach, Galina Bukharina parted ways with the Athletics Federation of India abruptly last winter, the quarter-milers were left clueless. Galina had joined the Indian setup at 72 and spent five years forging a solid bond with the runners. Although closer to the end of her stint the relay teams performances dropped, she was a revered figure among the athletes. So it was natural the athletes took a while to warm up to Jamaican Jason Dawson, who took over the reins of the 400m camp early this year. But despite the initial resistance Dawson earned the athletes’ trust and played a pivotal role in helping the men’s 4x400m dip below the 3-minute mark for the first time when they finished second in their hecoats at the World Championships in Budapest...
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‘Always tough competing with Neeraj Chopra… I’m still dreaming’: Jakub Vadlejch after winning Diamond League title

He was second at the Tokyo Olympics behind Neeraj Chopra, third at the 2023 World Athletics Championships behind Chopra and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, third behind Anderson Peters and Chopra at the 2022 World Athletics Championships and second behind Johannes Vetter at the 2017 World Championships. But at last on Sunday, 32-year-old Jakub Vadlejch left behind his more illustrious rivals to claim a prestigious title: the Diamond League at Eugene. The Czech Republic thrower won the men’s javelin throw event at the Diamond League meeting, pipping Olympic gold medallist Chopra. “It’s always tough competing with Neeraj, but victory is for me, very valuable. I’m still dreaming. I felt very well. It’s very difficult, especially in my age, I’m almost 33 years old, so it’s difficult but javelin t...
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Neeraj Chopra fails to retain Diamond League title, ends second at Eugene

Neeraj Chopra has set such lofty standards for himself that even a respectable second-place finish in the prestigious Diamond League seems like a disappointment. It wasn’t Neeraj Chopra’s day at Eugene on Saturday as he failed to retain his Diamond League title (with a best effort of 83.80m), finishing second behind Czech power thrower Jakub Vadlejch (84.24m). Vadlejch took the lead in his very first throw before finishing off with an 84.24m as the rest of the field, including Neeraj, never threatened him. Neeraj’s best attempt of 83.80m came in the second round. Although Neeraj would be disappointed on not retaining his Diamond League title, he will still take home a second-place cheque of approx Rs 10 lakh. Two-time world champion Anderson Peters looked like a pale shadow of himself i...
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Neeraj Chopra Diamond League 2023 Final Live Updates: Neeraj Chopra looking to defend his title

Neeraj Chopra looking at Diamond League title to cap a golden season Neeraj Chopra will be defending his Diamond League title in Eugene at the Hayward Field stadium. (PHOTO: @SAI_Media/X) Usually, reams of praise on top athletes get written at the fag-end of their careers, but Neeraj Chopra is an exception. At 25 he has virtually won every global title possible – with the most recent being India’s first World Championship gold. But despite achieving what most athletes dream of in such a short time, Neeraj seems as hungry as ever. At the post-Worlds press conference, he summed up his mindset when he said, “Throwers don’t have a finishing line.” “So I can push myself, it is motivation to see how many medals one can win. Winning medals does not mean we have done everything. There are so m...
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Neeraj Chopra at Diamond League Final live streaming: When and where to watch javelin throw event

Neeraj Chopra will take the field at the iconic Hayward Field at the University of Oregon late on Saturday night as he competes in the Eugene Diamond League Final. Hayward Field is where Chopra won a historic silver medal in the 2022 World Athletics Championships last year. The 25-year-old will be bidding to retain his title in a six-man field, which includes multiple-time world and Olympic medallist Jakub Vadlejch and two-time world champion Anderson Peters. Chopra had claimed the Diamond League champion’s trophy at the finale in Zurich last year. Chopra is also likely to compete at the upcoming Asian Games in China’s Hangzhou (September 23 to October 8), where the men’s javelin throw event will happen on October 4. Chopra’s route to the final has seen him finish on top in two individ...
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Litmus test for India’s world-leading long jumpers Sreeshankar, Jeswin Aldrin at World Athletics Championships

Five of Murali Sreeshankar’s six jumps at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok were over 8 metres, the last of them a remarkable 8.37 metres. Sreeshankar let out a roar after his final jump that sealed the silver medal last month. A couple of weeks later, Jeswin Aldrin, the national record holder, jumped 8.22m at the Citius Meeting in Bern to finish first. Aldrin’s national record of 8.42m is the best jump in the world this year, Sreeshankar’s 8.41 the second best. Sreeshankar, 24, and Aldrin 21, have been making waves. Sreeshankar finished third at the Diamond League in Paris. After Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and former discus thrower Vikas Gowda, Sreeshankar became just the third Indian athlete to finish in the top-three in a Diamond League event. Aldrin ha...
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Tajinderpal Singh Toor sets new Asian shot put record days after losing grandmother

Bhubaneswar: The moment the shot put left Tajinderpal Singh Toor’s hands in his third attempt at the interstate meet on Monday, the reigning Asian Games champion knew it was going to be a huge throw. The gentle giant, as he’s popularly known on the circuit, let out a roar as everyone waited for the officials to confirm the exact distance he had hurled the 7.26kg metal ball. A few seconds later, the field officials confirmed his hunch of a big throw. Toor had managed a 21.77m throw, breaking his previous national and Asian record of 21.49m set two years ago. After the distance came up on the board, he closed his eyes and looked up to the skies, remembering his grandmother who passed away just three days ago. “When I realised I broke the record, I got a little emotional. My eyes went moi...
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India’s Heena Rezoana Mallick, 16, breaks 400m Youth Asian Championship record, betters her U-18 national record

Moments after winning gold at the March Youth Nationals in Udupi, Heena Rezoana Mallick took her spikes off, walked off the track, and wept inconsolably. Those weren’t tears of joy. Heena, who turned 16 a week after that race, was distraught about not rewriting the U-16 national mark which she had broken just a week ago. Attempts from her mother to console her were futile. At the medal ceremony, she put up a fake smile for the cameras but the frown returned the moment she stepped down from the podium. Last week however, her tears turned to joy as the Bengal athlete not only won the 400m gold at the Youth Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan but also broke the U-18 national record with a blistering time of 52.98s. She also rewrote the Championship record of 53.02s set by Salwa Eid...
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Shot-putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor aims to overcome personal setbacks and break records

Bellary: Even though Tajinderpal Singh Toor won the gold medal with a new meet record at the 2nd AFI National Throws competition on Tuesday, the shot-putter from Punjab didn’t celebrate. As he walked out of the competition area, he seemed more exhausted than usual. It has been a tough couple of months for the Asian record holder, who won the event with a throw of 19.95 metres and improved the meet record by a centimetre at JSW’s Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) facilities in Bellary. Toor underwent one of the most testing times in his life just ahead of the Asian Indoors in Kazakhstan last month. He won the gold in Astana but just before the event his wife Sandeep Kaur, who was expecting, had to undergo an abortion. “It’s been a tough few months for me and my family. Just before the Asi...