Javelin thrower Annu Rani breaks her own national record but misses Olympic qualifying mark

Indian javelin thrower Annu Rani smashed her own national record with a throw of 63.24m in a sensational return to action during the Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championships on Monday. Unfortunately, the record missed the Tokyo Olympics qualification mark by more than half-a-meter.

Ranked 12th in the world rankings, Annu threw a distance of 63.24m in the third attempt to obliterate her earlier national record of 62.43m set at the 2019 World Championships.

Hearty congratulations to Annu Rani for setting India's new national record of 63.24 meters in the women’s javelin throw at the Federation Cup in Patiala. She broke her own previous record of 62.43m set in 2019. pic.twitter.com/RAJsG60MT1

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) March 16, 2021

Annu Rani, 28, opened her campaign with an effort of 61.45m to move a step closer to gaining an Olympic berth. After staying over the 60m-mark in the second, she sent the javelin to 63.24m in her third attempt amid loud cheers from a sizeable audience at the Patiala campus. If the throw is ratified by World Athletics, it will be the season's second-best mark in women’s javelin.

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Annu Rani earns a provisional qualification spot to the Tokyo Olympics

Annu Rani (extreme right) at the Asian Athletics Championships in 2019.

The Tokyo Olympics qualification mark in women's javelin is 64m. Annu Rani has earned a provisional qualification spot to the Tokyo Olympics through her World No.12 ranking and a quota place ranking of 15 in women's javelin. So far, 11 women javelin throwers have booked their places for the Olympics.

In other notable results, Rajasthan's Sanjana Choudhary claimed second spot with a best throw of 54.55m, while Kumari Sharmila came third with an effort of 50.78m.

Debutant Savita Pal made her presence felt in the 10,000m women's hurdles by edging past seasoned runner Sanjvani Jadhav. In the women's 100m sprint, S Dhanalakshmi clocked a remarkable 11.38s to outdistance Dutee Chand.

Dutee clocked 11.51s to sustain her speed as part of her preparations for the Olympics, while Hima Das showed good form to complete the race in 11.63s.

Gurindervir Singh came up with a personal best of 10.30s in the men's 100m semi-finals. This was recorded as the third-fastest time by any Indian sprinter, behind Anil Kumar's 10.21s, and Amiya Kumar Mallick and Sanjeet Singh's 10.26s.

The seasoned MR Poovamma won the women's 400m final heat by clocking the season's second-best time of 54.34s. Muhammad Anas Yahiya topped the men's 400m qualification round with a timing of 46.26s.

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