Tajinderpal Toor seals Tokyo berth at Indian Grand Prix

Hima Das and Dutee Chand narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Games.

The Indian Grand Prix was organized to facilitate Indian athletes in qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics. Some athletes missed out on international qualifying events due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this was a chance for them to book their spot. 

The event was hosted at the prestigious National Institute of Sports in Patiala. There were several major athletes in action, including the likes of Hima Das, Dutee Chand, Kamalpreet Kaur, Tajinderpal Toor, M Sreeshankar and many more. The Indian Grand Prix featured major events such as the 100m, 200m, shot put, javelin throw, 4x100m relay and more. 

Tajinderpal Toor will represent India at the Tokyo Olympics

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There were several national records broken at the Indian Grand Prix but only one athlete managed to book a berth at the Tokyo Olympics. Shot-putter Tajinderpal Toor broke his own national record twice, which was previously set at 20.92m. The Olympic qualifying mark was set at 21.10m, but the athlete threw two distances of 21.28m and 21.49m respectively. This feat allows Tajinderpal to participate in the Tokyo Olympics and represent India in the shot-put event.

A day to forget for Hima Das 

A strong contender to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics was Hima Das. The 400m national record holder won the 200m event, but missed out on qualifying for the mega event. She clocked in at 22.88 seconds, but missed the qualification mark of 22.80 seconds. Tamil Nadu’s Dhanalakshmi finished in second place with a time of 23:14 seconds.

Hima Das also missed another opportunity to represent India at the Olympics in the 4x100m relay event. Teaming up with Dutee Chand and others, the team clocked in at 43:37 seconds, a new national record. However, they missed the Olympic qualification mark, which was 43:05 seconds.

Dutee Chand: So close, yet so far

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Dutee Chand also missed out on securing automatic Olympic qualification in the 100m event, which is her strong suit. She broke her own national record of 11:22 seconds by clocking in 11:17 seconds. But, she missed out on the Olympic qualification by an agonizing difference of 0.02 seconds, as the mark was 11:15 seconds. Chand is currently in 43rd place out of 56 competitors and could still book a place at Tokyo Olympics. 

The upcoming 60th National Interstate Seniors Athletic Championships will be the last chance for both runners to better their timings. Missing out on the Olympics will be a huge blow for both Hima Das and Dutee Chand.  

Other major results

Kamalpreet Kaur also featured during the day in the discus throw event. She has already qualified for the Olympics but managed to better her own national record. She threw the discus 66.59m, bettering her own national record of 65.06m. Kaur will be a big hope for an athletics medal in Tokyo.

M Sreeshankar has also qualified for the Olympics in the long jump event but had a forlorn outing at the Indian Grand Prix. Sreeshankar’s best attempt was a jump of 7.74m, while his own personal best and the national record stands at 8.26m. 

National record holder in women’s javelin throw Annu Rani delivered a disappointing performance on the day. The World No.12 threw a best of 60.58m, way below her personal best and national best of 63.24m. The qualification mark for the Olympics stood at 64m. 

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