It’s been a successful year for Indian Athletics in the run up to Rio Olympics 2016 as a number of athletes notched up laurels and medals at prestigious international championships.
Triple jumper Renjith Maheshwary leaped to a distance of 17.30m and clinched an Olympic berth yesterday at the 4th Indian Grand Prix in Bengaluru. The 30-year-old shocked the previous record holder Arpinder Singh, who set it in 2014 and beat the national record by thirteen centimetres.
Also Read: Triple jumper Renjith Maheshwary qualifies for Rio Olympics 2016
In the process, the 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist attained a world record as well. His jump at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium was the third best jump in 2016 after China's triple jumper specialist Bin Dong. Earlier this year, the two-time gold medalist at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships jumped to 17.41m and 17.33m in two different events.
While Renjith jumped to a mere 15.77m at the Beijing Games, he had a disappointing outing at London, which saw him commit three consecutive fouls at the qualifying stage. But this astounding mark of 17.30 could have seen him finish within the top five at the 2012 London Olympics.
Now, the bigger question is - are our athletes peaking too early?
