Annu Rani qualifies for final at World Athletics Championships

The 29-year-old finished eighth in the Women's Javelin Throw Qualification round with her best effort of 59.60m long.

National record holder Annu Rani qualified for the final of the Javelin Throw event at the World Athletics Championships. This will be her second successive appearance in the finals of the major event. The 29-year-old's best throw was 59.60m long on Thursday, qualifying her for the medal race.

Rani finished at the eighth position in the qualification round. She began the round with a foul and then came up with a 55.35m throw, the distance wouldn’t have been enough. However, the pride of Indian athletics reserved her best for the final attempt. With her third attempt, she qualified for the finals, leaving behind the disappointment of not making it to the showdown stage at the Tokyo Olympics.

After her qualification into the finals, she said, “I was not happy with my first throw as it was a foul. The second throw was better, but I knew I must give my best in the last attempt. Overall, I am not happy with my performance today. Yes, I am fitter than what I was a few months ago. Still, I feel I haven’t given my best throw this time. My records have been good in the past and I will give my best in the final to win a medal.”

On being asked about the disappointing outing at the Olympics, she answered, “Ups and downs are the part and parcel of the game. Also, I was not 100 percent fit during the Olympics due to my ankle sprain and knee problem. But I have recovered and now I am training well for the future."

Earlier in May, she had broken her own national record with a 63.82 attempt in the AFI Indian Open event in Jamshedpur. Annu will now be in action in the final on July 22 (Saturday morning as per IST). It would be interesting to see if she could win India’s second medal at the World Athletics Championships. So far, Anju Bobby George is the only Indian to win a medal in the Championships' history.

In the men’s Javelin qualification, India’s Neeraj Chopra and Rohit Yadav will be in action on Friday at 5:35 AM IST.

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