Tokyo Olympics: Dutee Chand, Neeraj Chopra headline 26-member squad named by AFI

Star India sprinter Dutee Chand, among 25 others, have been named by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to participate in the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics.

The Summer Games, scheduled to begin on July 23, will see some star India athletes in Dutee (women’s 100m and 200m), MP Jabir (men’s 400m hurdles), Gurpreet Singh (men’s 50km race walk) and Annu Rani (women’s javelin throw) take part on the basis of their superior rankings.

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According to AFI, Gurpreet is the latest inclusion assured of qualification.

The 26-member team includes 16 athletes, who will compete in the individual events, five male athletes for the men’s 4x400m relay event and two men and three women for the mixed 4x400m relay.

All three women set to compete in the mixed 4x400m relay were picked by the federation on the basis of trials held on Sunday.

The athletics events start on July 31 and will run through August 9.

AFI President Adille J. Sumariwalla said the federation is looking forward to a good show by the team.

“We are happy that it is a well prepared team, physically and emotionally, for the Olympic Games. The world has been through a lot and athletes have been challenged to stay in good shape, retain form and in good spirits.

“We are pleased that our athletes have remained in training ever since lockdown was lifted,” he said.

Sumariwalla said it was significant that as many as 12 individual athletes and the 4x400m mixed relay team had attained Entry Standards, laid down by World Athletics, to secure automatic berths.

The squad:

Men: Avinash Sable (3000m Steeplechase); MP Jabir (400m Hurdles): M Sreeshankar (Long Jump); Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Shot Put); Neeraj Chopra and Shivpal Singh (Javelin Throw); KT Irfan, Sandeep Kumar and Rahul Rohilla (20km Walk) and Gurpreet Singh (50km Walk); 4x400m Relay: Amoj Jacob, Arokia Rajiv, Muhammed Anas, Naganathan Pandi, Noah Nirmal Tom; 4x400m Mixed Relay: Sarthak Bhambri, Alex Antony.

Women: Dutee Chand (100m and 200m); Kamalpreet Kaur and Seema Antil-Punia (Discus Throw) and Annu Rani (Javelin Throw); Bhawna Jat and Priyanka Goswami (20km Walk) and (Mixed 4x400m Relay): Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan & Dhanlakshmi Sekhar.

(With inputs from PTI)