Why Paris 2024 Olympics will be an uphill battle for most Indian athletes

The Football World Cup is behind us, and barring the Cricket World Cup in 2023, sports fans will have to wait until 2024 for the next global event: the Paris Olympics in 2024. And while the fans may have to wait for quite some time, athletes have no time to relax. Earlier this week, the World Athletics Council approved the entry standards for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the golden bar against which all athletes will compete in the hope that they will soon represent their nations at the top level. 

But, as EastMojo found out, it is unlikely that we will see many Indian athletes in the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Of course, the two obvious exceptions to the above statement are current Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra (javelin) and 3,000-metre steeplechase athlete Avinash Sable. 

The rest will have to either perform out of their skins to have a chance of qualifying because almost all current athletes are well below the standards demanded by the Paris Olympics. 

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But first, let us explain how the qualification method works: the Paris Games, World Athletics informed, will witness a dual qualification method based on the French system, in which 50 per cent of athletes will qualify through the entry standards, whereas 50 per cent can qualify based on the world rankings. The French qualification system has been approved by the WA council.

The 2024 Olympics will have 48 athletic events, including 23 women’s events and 23 men’s events. The two mixed events will be the 4×400-metre mixed relay and the 35km mixed team race walk.

“For the 10,000m, combined events, race walks and relays, the qualification period runs from 31 December 2022 to 30 June 2024. For the marathon, the qualification window is from 1 November 2022 to 30 April 2024. For all other events, the qualification period runs from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024,” a statement from the WA, read.

Now, let’s look at the different disciplines and how some Indian athletes stand today.

First, the good news: in the men’s javelin throw, Neeraj boasts of a best of 89.94m, well past the entry mark of 85.50m approved by the council. Similarly, in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, Sable’s timing of 8:11.20 is well above the required mark of 8:15.00. Sable, let us not forget, is ranked 13 in the world in the 3,000-metre steeplechase and has a career-best rank of 10. So, injuries apart, nothing will stop these two from competing in the 2024 Olympics. 

This is where the good news ends. 

The country’s top athletes will need multiple miracles to make the cut, because they are neither ranked high enough nor are their personal best anyway near the demands of the 2024 Olympics. 

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Consider this: the cut-off mark for 100m sprint in the men’s section is 10.00. India’s best bet, Amlan Borgohain, has 10.25s as his best. To put this in context, the 10-second mark was breached by Jim Hines in the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico, and we are yet to get anywhere close to it. So the less we speak about the Olympics in this event, the better. At least for now. 

Among women, Dutee Chand (11.17s) is still .10 seconds behind the qualification standard of 11.07s. Mind you, Dutee achieved this in 2021 and is yet to better her record. In Tokyo, Elaine Thompson won the gold with an Olympic record of 10.60, over half a second faster than Dutee Chand. 

The story is not very different in 200m. Here too, Borgohain holds the national record at 20.52s, against the required 20.16s needed for qualification. In short, he has to not just beat, but annihilate his personal best (and the national record) to stand a chance of starting at the blocks come the Olympics. 

Among women, Hima Das’ 22.88s is well behind the entry cut of 22.57s. And Hima Das has not performed near her personal best in recent years, so this too seems most unlikely. 

In men’s 400m too, Kerala’s Muhammed Anas’ national record timing of 45.21s is below the required 45.00s. Hima Das’ 50.79s achieved in 2018 could have landed her in Paris as the cut stands at 50.95s. However, Hima is yet to return to the event, after suffering a back injury a few years ago.

In men’s 800m, Jinson Johnson’s national record time of 1:45.65 is far from the entry cut of 1:44.70, while in the women’s section, retired Tintu Luka’s national record time of 1:59.17 she achieved in 2010 could have fetched her a place as the required mark stands 1:59.30. Among current Indian runners, however, KM Chanda has a best of 2:01.58, and Harmilan Kaur Bains has clocked 2:02.57, both well below the qualifying mark. 

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Johnson also holds the national record in men’s 1500m with a timing of 3:35.24 against the required 3.33.50 while national record holder Harmilan’s 4:05.50 is nowhere near the entry cut of 4.02.50.

However, one potential positive could emerge in high jumper Tejaswin Shankar, whose personal best of 2.29m could land him in Paris as the entry currently stands at 2.33m.

Coming to the field events, where Neeraj will look to defend his crown in the men’s javelin event, Annu Rani’s best effort of 63.24m keeps her in the fray with the cut falling on 64m. In the men’s shot put, Tajinder Pal Singh Toor stays in with a chance with a best of 21.49m to somehow make the cut of 21.50m. 

Haryana shot-putter Manpreet Kaur’s best effort of 18.06m also keeps her in the race for the entry cut of 18.80 in the women’s event.

Uttar Pradesh race walker Priyanka Goswami’s 20 km timing of 1:28.45 brightens her prospects of making it to another Olympics, as the entry cut is at 1:29.20, while fellow walker Sandeep Kumar will have to work a bit more to get past his best of 1:20.16 with the cut falling at 1:20.10.

So, while we will certainly have hopes of medals at the next Olympics, do not be surprised if we do not see many in field events, and even lesser in track events. 

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