Javelin thrower Shivpal Singh qualifies for Tokyo Olympics

A throw of 85.47m at the ACNW League Meeting in South Africa means Shivpal Singh joins fellow javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra at the Tokyo Olympics.

Shivpal Singh will represent India along with star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra in the discipline at Tokyo Olympics later this year.

Indian javelin thrower Shivpal Singh has qualified for his maiden Olympic Games in Tokyo this year by breaching the qualification mark at an event here.

Shivpal became the second Indian javelin thrower after star athlete Neeraj Chopra to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

The 24-year-old Shivpal crossed the qualifying standard of 85m by hurling the spear to a distance of 85.47m in his fifth attempt to win gold in the ACNW Meeting at the McArthur Stadium late on Tuesday.

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I qualified for Olympics by throwing 85.47m at Potchefstroom, South Africa. I would like to thank you all for the constant support. Watch this space, there is more to come. #Dhamaka#roadtotokyo#indianjavelin#trackandfield

A post shared by SHIVPAL SINGH (@shivpal___singh) on Mar 10, 2020 at 10:21am PDT

 

Another Indian Akshdeep Singh finished third with a best throw of 75m. Four athletes took part in the event.

Chopra had qualified for the Tokyo Games with a throw of 87.86m at another ACNW League meeting here in January. Both of them are currently here for a training stint.

Shivpal has a personal best of 86.23m while winning a silver medal in the Asia Championships in Doha last year. He also took part in the prestigious Diamond League meeting in the Oslo leg (Norway) last year, finishing eighth with a throw of 80.87m.

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Besides Shivpal and Chopra, men’s national record holder 20km race walker KT Irfan, Avinash Sable (men’s 3000m steeplechase) and the country’s mixed 4x400m relay team have qualified for the Tokyo Games.

National record holder Annu Rani also won the gold with a best throw of 61.15m in women’s javelin throw in her first competition of the year. Her effort was, however, well below the Tokyo Olympics qualifying mark of 64m.