Paris Olympics: Anju Bobby George says Parul Chaudhary among ones to watch out for

Parul Chaudhary shot into the limelight with a gold in the 5000m and silver in the 3000m steeplechase events of the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.

Silver medallist India’s Parul Chaudhary celebrates after the women’s 3,000m steeplechase final athletics event during the 2022 Asian Games. | Photo Credit: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP

Athletics Federation of India vice-president Anju Bobby George on Wednesday said Asian Games gold-winning steeplechase runner Parul Chaudhary is among the ones to watch out for at this year’s Paris Olympics where she is expecting more than one medal in javelin throw.

So far, nine Indian track-and-field athletes have qualified for the Games in July-August with defending gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Jena making the cut in javelin throw.

Chaudhary shot into the limelight with a gold in the 5000m and silver in the 3000m steeplechase events of the Hangzhou Asian Games last year. The 28-year-old is the first Indian to clock less than nine minutes in the 3000m women’s steeplechase.

“A bunch of athletes are performing really well in the international arena from athletics. We are aiming for three (medals) in javelin,” she told PTI Video on the sidelines of Bharat Sports Science Conclave in New Delhi on Wednesday.

“Then we have long jumpers, we have triple jumpers, steeplechase runner Parul Chaudhary is among the ones to watch out for but a lot cannot be predicted about the Olympics,” she added.

A legend in her own right, who won a trailblazing world championship bronze in the long jump, George said she is mighty pleased with how technology has been incorporated to improve the training of athletes.

“A game-changer I can say, nothing was like this in our time, the changes that are happening in Indian sports, and sports science are playing a big role in every athlete’s career.

“Every athlete is challenging his body, he needs recovery and treatment, and it was not there in India (in the past), but now we are aiming for the Olympics. We are talking about sports science, doping issues, recovery and training, so it is a game changer I can say,” she said.

The other Indian athletes to have qualified for the Paris Games so far are Avinash Sable (men’s 3000m steeplechase), Akashdeep Singh, Vikas Singh and Paramjeet Singh Bisht (men’s 20km walk), Priyanka Goswami (women’s 20km walk), and Murali Sreeshankar (men’s long jump).