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Indian athlete Parvej Khan won a gold medal in the 1500m race at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Percy Beard Track in Gainesville, Florida.
Khan clocked a timing of 3:42:73 seconds to finish first at the event. Although, he was well short of his personal best mark of 3:28:76 seconds, which he achieved in the Bryan Clay Invitational in April.
Ahead of the 1500m race, he had put in an outstanding performance in the heats, where he topped the charts with a timing of 3:4$:98s. Following his 1500m event, Parvej displayed exceptional endurance and strength in winning bronze in the 800m event, clocking 1:46:80s.
“1500m was easy for me” - Parvej Khan
Following his win, Parvej Khan said that he didn’t give his 100 percent in the 1500m event as he had to participate in the 800m event just after that.
"1500m was easy for me. I did not give my 100 per cent in that race because I had 800m just after that. I was going at a comfort pace and only pushed in the final 200," Parvej told the media after his race.
Notably, Parvej was at second position at the final bend before taking the lead at 3:31:02s.
The Indian athlete grabbed eyeballs for his gesture in the heats. The Indian athlete Clarified that the celebration wasn’t to disrespect his competitors but to add excitement among the fans.
"I did it for the crowd, to hype up the crowd, my intention was not bad towards my rivals, I really respect my competitors. I am not disrespecting them, I just did it for my home crowd," Parvej said.
Parvej Khan has been making headlines for his exceptional performances, lately. However, he is still well short of breaching the Paris Olympic 2024 qualification mark. Shedding light on the same, here’s what he told the media
"Ya, representing India in the Paris Olympics is in my mind but you know it is very hard to qualify at 3:33, and that is very hard. I am working hard every day and executing my plans, hopefully, one day I will be in the Olympics standards," Parvej added.
On Saturday, he became the first ever Indian to qualify for the final of a track event in the NCAA Championships of the United States.
