After Asian Games success, Harmilan Bains sets sights on Paris Olympics qualification

Harmilan Bains had a successful Asian Games outing. She secured the second position in the 1500m and 800m races and secured two silver medals. Now, having completed her campaign at Hangzhou, the Punjab runner has her eyes set on securing a berth at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Speaking in a media interaction, Harmilan Bains explained the significance of emulating her mother's achievements. Harmilan got the running bug from an early age, watching her mother compete at international events. Thus, winning the silver medal in the 800m race in the Asian Games was an achievement close to her heart, a feat her athlete mother Madhuri Singh had achieved at the 2002 Asian Games.

"It is always too hard to live on the expectations and replicate your parent's success, but I am proud of the achievement.", Harmilan said.

With respect to Olympic qualification, Harmilan remained optimistic.

"Olympic qualification will always remain the aim; I am pushing for the Paris Olympics qualification having missed by four seconds in August.", she said.

Harmilan also spoke about drawing inspiration from the achievements of fellow athletes like Neeraj Chopra and Avinash Sable over the years.

"I get around my fellow athletes who have been there and breached success, I keep speaking to Neeraj Chopra and Avinash Sable, who have boosted my confidence on multiple fronts.", she added.

Harmilan Bains' success in recent outings provides optimism about Olympic qualification

Harmilan's performances, ever since she returned from a knee injury, have been nothing short of outstanding. In June, she ran a season-best sprint of 4:08.50s to win a silver medal in 1500m at the Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneshwar. She had also won the women's 800m by soaring to the finish line with a 2:04.04s time that breached the Athletics Federation of India's qualifying mark of 2:04.57.

Among her standout performances is her national record-setting run in the 1500m event at the 60th National Open Athletics Championships in Warangal in 2021. She had clocked 4:05.39s in the race, a new national record. In August, Harmilan ran the BMC Grand Prix race in Manchester in 2:04.37s, missing out on the Paris Olympics qualifying mark (1:59.30s) by the barest of margins.