Indian athletes, in the track & field competitions at the Asian Games, have been nothing short of scintillating, delivering 29 medals which include six gold medals as well. With their medal-winning efforts, the national records, Asian records, and Asian Games records were also bettered. The country too celebrated their feats to the fullest, with only hopes of them perhaps replicating some of them, if not all.
Having said that, it is common knowledge that Asians are not the best when it comes to athletics, and the performances of Indians cannot be taken at face value. Instead, a detailed analysis of each medalist needs to be done, in order to understand what we can really achieve in Paris 2024. InsiderSport brings a comparison between the performances delivered by the Indian athletes at the Asian Games in China, and we managed at the Tokyo Olympics, to get a fair idea of what’s to come in 2024. Also, before starting with this Then and Now comparison, it is imperative to understand, that it is only speculative, and what the Indian athletes go on to achieve at the Paris Games, will solely be based on their talent and performance.
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Neeraj Chopra & Kishore Jena Sure Winners
Starting with Neeraj Chopra, the 25-year-old won the gold at the Asian Games with a best throw of 88.88m, followed by Kishore Jena, who made a PB at 87.54m, to claim the silver. If we were to take into account, the distances won by the medalists at the Tokyo Games, the duo would take the top two positions again. Back in 2020, Neeraj Chopra had gold with a throw of 87.58m, while Jakub Vadlejch got silver at 86.67m. The Indians, had they given this performance at then, would have taken the top two spots at the Olympics as well.
Coming to Avinash Sable, the 29-year-old clinched the gold medal in men’s 3000m steeplechase with a timing of 8:19.50s and thrashed the Games record. Had this performance come from him at the 2020 Olympics if he were there, he would have barely finished inside the top-10. Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco had won the gold with a time of 8:08.90s, while Benjamin Kigena of Kenya bagged the bronze with a time of 8:11.45s. But that is well within reach of Sable’s current national record. So perhaps he can better this just a touch and go for a medal next year.
Tajinderpal Singh Toor Not Good Enough
Next on the list is Tajinderpal Singh Toor. He got the gold medal with a distance of 20.36m at the Asian Games and defended his title. But if at the Olympic level, he delivered this performance, he would barely make it to the final. At the 2020 Olympics, the cut-off for qualification was 20.90m. Though not unreachable for Toor, he has been inconsistent, to say the least. Meanwhile, the bronze medal was decided at 22.47m, bagged by Tom Walsh of New Zealand.
Moving on to the next athlete, Parul Chaudhary won the gold medal in women’s 5000m with a time of 15:14.75s. But if she had come up with the same performance at the 2020 Olympics, she would have not even made it to the finals of the event. The runner who finished last at the Olympics was Canada’s Andrea Seccafien with a time of 15:12.09s, over two seconds better than the Indian.
Annu Rani, India’s best women’s javelin thrower bagged gold too. She threw the spear at 62.92m, marginally short of her personal best effort. Had she come up with this throw in 2020, she would have, at best finished in sixth position. Kelsey-Lee Barber of Australia had won the bronze there, at a distance of 64.56m, better than Rani’s PB of 63.24m.
Murali Sreeshankar Quite Close
In another notable medal, Murali Sreeshankar claimed the silver medal in the men’s long jump with a distance of 8.19m. Had he come up with this performance in Tokyo, he would have finished in fourth place. This just shows the potential, the jumper from Kerala has. Having said that, originally he had not even qualified for the final then, with a best jump of 7.69m. Then in the men’s triple jump, where Praveen Chitravel got the bronze at 16.68m, would only have been enough for an 18th-place finish two years back.
Lastly, the decathlon was one medal that brought a lot of joy to the Indian fans. Tejaswin Shankar shattered the long-standing national record to score 7666 points and end with a silver medal. Had he gotten the same performance at the Tokyo Olympics, he would have only finished 20th. While he has got a lot of potential, but to be among the medals at the Olympics, he would have to do a lot more. Back in 2020, Ashley Moloney had the bronze medal with 8649 overall points.
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While it is important to celebrate India’s journey at the Asian Games, it is also important to understand the bridge there is between us and the world. There are some events already, apart from men’s javelin, where India can be among the medals at the Olympics, but with others, there stands no chance for now. In short, with those events, a lot of work needs to be done.
Editors pick
