Tough road to Tokyo for Indians
March 12, 2019
Reference: https://www.thehindu.com/sport/athletics/tough-road-to-tokyo-for-indians/article26501508.ece
The road to the Tokyo Olympics has just got tougher.
The IAAF, athletics’ world body, announced the qualification and entry standards for the 2020 Olympics and in a majority of events Indian athletes will have to break national records to make the cut.
“I didn’t expect the Olympic qualification standards to be so tough. They certainly surprised me,” Muhammed Anas, the Asian Games 400m silver medallist and National record holder with 45.24s, told The Hindu on Monday.
Window extended
However, the qualification window has been extended by two months for almost all the events and the entry doors will now open on May 1 this year (instead of July 1) and will close on June 29, 2020.
There is another way athletes can qualify for next year’s Olympics, by virtue of their world rankings.
“After extensive consultation with key stakeholders, the IAAF Council has decided to introduce a dual qualification system, combining both the entry standards and the new world ranking system, to determine who are eligible for Olympic selection in 2020,” said the IAAF after its Council meeting in Doha on Sunday.
“The process is designed to achieve about 50% of the target numbers for each event through entry standards and the remaining 50% through the IAAF world ranking system.”
The entry standards (for 2020 Tokyo Olympics):
Men: 100m (10.05s), 200m (20.24s), 400m (44.90s), 800m (1:45.20s), 1500m (3:35.00s), 5000m (13:13.50s), 10,000m (27:28.00s), 110m hurdles (13.32s), 400m hurdles (48.90s), 3000m steeple chase (8:22.00s), high jump (2.33m), pole vault (5.80m), long jump (8.22m), triple jump (17.14m), shot put (21.10m), discus (66m), hammer throw (77.50m), javelin (85m), decathlon (8350 pts), 20km race walk (1:21.00s), 50km race walk (3:50.00), marathon (2:11.30).
Women: 100m (11.15s), 200m (22.80s), 400m (51.35s), 800m (1:59.50s), 1500m (4:04.20s), 5000m (15:10.00s), 10,000m (31:25.00s), 100m hurdles (12.84s), 400m hurdles (55.40s), 3000m steeple chase (9:30.00s), high jump (1.96m), pole vault (4.70m), long jump (6.82m), triple jump (14.32m), shot put (18.50m), discus (63.50m), hammer throw (72.50m), javelin(64m), heptathlon (6420 pts), 20km race walk (1:31.00s), marathon (2:29.30).
