Tag: Tokyo Olympics

If I want to win a medal in Olympics, have to keep everything else aside: Bajrang Punia | Tokyo Olympics News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: It doesn’t get bigger than the Olympics for an athlete and ace Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia is leaving no stone unturned as he looks to hit top gear in the home stretch of his preparations for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
Earlier this month, the World No.1 stopped using his social media handles and asked fans to keep showing him support as he gets battle ready for the Games. One of India’s biggest Olympic medal prospects, Bajrang on Thursday revealed regular use of social media was hampering his preparation. The men’s 65kg freestyle wrestler went on to add that nothing means more to him than preparing for the mega event.
“Nothing like that (if any particular incident prompted him to deactivate social media). But I felt that social media was disturbing my preparation. And the Olympics is the biggest event so I thought it would be better if I put all my focus on my preparation. If I want to win a medal in the Olympics, I have to keep everything aside for the coming months,” Bajrang told ANI.
“I can use social media after the Olympics also. So, instead of wasting my time, I decided to focus on preparations. In our free time we can work on our weakness too,” he added.
Bajrang’s love-affair with wrestling helped him regain the number one spot in the rankings after he clinched a second successive gold medal at the Matteo Pallicone Ranking Series last week.
The 27-year-old, who was playing his first international competition since the COVID-19 pandemic, made full use of the tournament to further prepare for the much-awaited Tokyo Olympics.
In January, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had said that Bajrang, Vinesh Phogat, Deepak Punia, and Ravi Kumar can bag medals in the Olympics.
Asked if it would add to the expectations, Bajrang — who has won accolades in the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games as well as World Championship — said while the WFI President is right in expecting medals from them, the road to the Olympics will not be a bed of roses.
“I am trying my best, but it is easier said than done. My focus is only on doing hard work and for that, I am focusing on my training. The first time it has happened that four wrestlers have qualified. So, WFI president is right in expecting the medals from us as in recent past wrestlers have performed brilliantly,” the Indian wrestler said.
“And we are working hard to win a medal for the country, but it isn’t that easy. It’s not like that you go into the Olympics and the medal is assured, you have to work hard for it,” he quipped.
Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju has said Tokyo Olympics-bound athletes will be given priority for the coronavirus vaccine followed by other athletes. And Bajrang, who is the recipient of the Arjuna Award, Padma Shri, and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, has already received his first dose of vaccine and will take the next jab after 28 days.
“I have taken the first dose of vaccine and would take the next dose after 28 days. I won’t tell anyone to take the vaccine or not take it. Athletes must consult their doctors and coaches before getting the first dose,” said Bajrang.
Diet plays a major role in an athletes’ build-up in the training and preparation and Bajrang, who hails from Khudan village in Haryana has tied up with Optimum Nutrition for all his dietary supplement requirements.
“Optimum Nutrition is the world’s best nutrition partner. I am using it for many years now and I found it very beneficial so I signed up with them. Good nutrition is very important for us as many supplements in the market are adulterated,” said Bajrang.
Bajrang earned a quota for the Tokyo Games in September 2019 after winning a bronze medal at the World Championships. The prestigious quadrennial event is set to take place from July 23 to August 8 this year. The Games were scheduled to take place last year but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Athletes anticipate duller Olympics but still with a glint of gold | Tokyo Olympics News – Times of India

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LAUSANNE: An Olympics under the dark cloud of Covid-19 may not be the experience athletes had hoped for, but they are still eager to grab their chance to shine, be there fans or not.
With the postponed Olympics set to start on July 22, the organisers are still wrestling with the issue of how many spectators they can safely allow in venues.
A decision on whether any foreign visitors will be allowed into the country to see the spectacle is expected before the torch relay begins, without any spectators because of coronavirus restrictions, on March 25.
AFP asked athletes what they thought of the prospect of a Games in front of small crowds or even without any spectators at all.
American middle-distance runner Craig Engels could have expected to race in front of 68,000 spectators in the rebuilt National Stadium in Tokyo.
“It kind of sucks not having friends and family there because any time I’ve ever imagined finishing my final race at an Olympics, I imagine running up to the stands and hugging my parents,” said Engels, who beat Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz Jr to win the US title in 2019.
“I think I’ll still be running in 2024 so at least my whole dream of the Olympic experience isn’t shot,” said the 26-year-old.
“But it sucks for those athletes who are retiring this year.”

One of those is 38-year-old Indian boxer Mary Kom, who is a six-time world champion but whose best Olympic performance was a bronze in London in 2012.
“We are in a situation that is beyond our control and against our wishes. Therefore we have to accept the reality,” said the mother-of-three.
“The empty or full stadium wouldn’t affect my bout and my performance though crowds and supporters make it interesting and thrilling.
“To me, the only thing that will be in my mind is to win the game and realise the long-cherished dream. The environment outside the ring is secondary.”
American sprinter Brittany Brown, the 200m silver medallist at the World Championships in Doha, said no fans would be “disappointing because this is every four years”.
“The Olympics is also a celebration. So knowing that your family and friends can’t be there is disheartening,” she said.
“At the same time it’s encouraging because you know that the organisers are taking proper precautions. It’s a weird dichotomy — you’re happy because they are prioritising safety, but also disappointed because you’re like ‘Gosh, I really wanted to share this moment’.”

Other track and field athletes agree they will miss the crowds.
“It won’t be as euphoric, but we’ll deal with it,” said French world record holder Kevin Mayer, who won the decathlon in Rio in 2016.
French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, who won the gold medal in London and silver in Rio — where he infamously broke down in tears at what he called the crowd’s biased support for eventual gold medallist and home favourite Thiago Braz, said he had learned to compete without fans.
“We’ve had a whole season behind closed doors,” he said. “It won’t have the same flavour but… when you put 10 people on the start line, everyone wants to win, whether there is an audience or not.”
Germany’s brightest medal hope in swimming, 1,500m freestyle and 10km open water world champion Florian Wellbrock said he is “definitely in favour” of the Games going ahead, albeit in front of empty seats.
“The fact that athletes can show in races what they have fought and worked for all their lives is and, remains for me, the most important meaning of the Olympic Games,” the 23-year-old swimmer told the German swimming federation’s magazine.
Some competitors in less popular sports see stadiums half full rather than half empty.
“Most of us don’t compete in front of crowds,” Bronwen Knox, an Australian water polo legend who won bronzes at the 2008 Beijing and London Olympics, told the Sydney Daily Telegraph.
Both Engels and Brown lamented the impact of likely health rules on the experience of the 11,000 competitors.
“You hear about how fun the Olympic village is, all the stories about meeting new people,” Brown said.
“So part of the excitement of the Olympics is the experience of being an Olympic athlete that you’re thinking about, as well as competing and training. It’s disheartening that we won’t have that, but I’m sure there will be other experiences.”
Engels agreed.
“Obviously I need to make sure I make the team first,” Engels said. “But it will suck not being able to socialise as much in the Olympic village. I was really looking forward to going to basketball games and seeing all the other athletes.
“So it kind of sucks that that is not going to happen this year — but there’s always Paris.”

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I want to go past 8.40m mark now, says long jumper Sreeshankar after qualifying for Tokyo Olympics | More sports News – Times of India

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KOCHI: After he bettered his own long jump national record to earn an Olympic berth on Tuesday, Sreeshankar Murali is chuffed but grounded. He knows there is still plenty of work to be done before boarding the flight to Tokyo. On the way back to his hometown Palakkad from Patiala after registering a new national record mark of 8.26 metres, the 21-year-old athlete opened up about his journey.
“I had wanted to ensure qualification in the Indian GP last month but I was not in any rhythm at that time. But now I feel really happy to have set a new record and qualified,” said Sreeshankar who went past his previous mark of 8.20m and the Olympic qualifying standard of 8.22m with his fifth and final jump in Patiala the other day.
“My rhythm was very good yesterday and there was a good flow. I could use my power to the optimum effect. There really wasn’t any doubt about whether I could qualify or not,” said Sreeshankar who is trained by his father Murali, a former triple jumper and silver medallist at the South Asian Games.
“All the credit for my achievements goes to my father. He identified my speed and explosiveness at a very young age and groomed me as an athlete. The only advice he has given me is to be straightforward in anything that I do. He is very strict in his training routines and taught me that there are no shortcuts to success,” said Sreeshankar whose mother KS Bijimol is a former 800m runner.
Sreeshankar wants to breach the 8.40m mark going forward. “It is obviously a dream come true for me to take part in the Olympics. But I know I have a lot of areas to improve. My next target is to achieve the 8.40 mark. There are some technical aspects that I have to work on for that. I have to get better in my run-up and rhythm,” said Sreeshankar, a BSC mathematics student at Palakkad Victoria College, who had the option of joining MBBS but decided against it to further his ambitions in athletics.
Sreeshankar and his father moved their entire training home during the lockdown. “I shifted my equipment to my valiachan’s (father’s brother) house and set up a gym facility. My cousins and all helped me in my training as I worked towards building up my core strength and speed. Once the lockdown restrictions were lifted, I got to use the facilities at Palakkad medical college ground,” said Sreeshankar who has had to endure some difficult times during his yet nascent athletics career.
In 2018, he suffered a ruptured appendicitis and had to undergo surgery. He lost weight and it hampered his performances despite landing his first international medal, a bronze in the Junior Asian Championships in June 2018. “It took nearly five months for me to regain full fitness and form after the operation. I could not take part in the Commonwealth Games and could finish only sixth in the Asian Games that followed,” he said.
However, he set his previous national record mark of 8.20m in the National Open Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar in September 2018. “I was looking forward to 2019 but at the beginning of the year, I suffered a heel injury. I recovered in one month but once again it took me time to rediscover my form,” said Sreeshankar who is a basketball junkie.
“My favourite is Kobe Bryant. His death was a big loss for the sporting world. His work-ethic and mindset are my guiding forces. I have watched his videos and the way he recovers from injuries and setbacks has inspired me a lot,” he added.

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Bright chance for Indians to get Olympic TT berths | More sports News – Times of India

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KOLKATA: It will be a fight among teammates as India are expected to book at least two Olympics table tennis berths from the Asian qualification meet, which is starting in Doha on Thursday.
Six players each in the men’s and women’s singles categories will make the cut from this event where the players are divided into groups based on geographical regions of Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia. Players of West Asia will not compete, having already qualified for Tokyo.
The winner of each group, played in round-robin format, will make the Olympics. With five group winners (including West Asia) getting a spot, the sixth and final spot will go to the highest-ranked player on the reserves list.
However, unlike the World Singles Qualification Tournament that concluded earlier this week, the competition in this meet is expected to be much easier.
The Indian men’s duo of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran are placed alongside Pakistan’s Rameez Muhammad (World No. 690) in the South Asia group. So it’s likely to be a fight between Sharath and Sathiyan for one berth.
In the women’s singles, it’s going to be a straight clash between World No. 62 Manika Batra and World No. 95 Sutirtha Mukherjee as there are only two entries in the South Asia group.
Only one mixed doubles Olympics berth is on offer, where World No. 19 Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra are the sole Indian pair in contention. Ranked second-best, they stand a good chance of emerging the winner of a knockout tournament which will give them a ticket to Tokyo.

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Federation Cup: Avinash Sable sets new national record in men’s 3000m steeplechase | More sports News – Times of India

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PATIALA: Athlete Avinash Sable on Wednesday set a new national record in the men’s 3000m steeplechase event in the ongoing Federation Cup.
The 26-year-old Avinash recorded a timing of 8:20.20 and hence he ended up breaking his own record which he set in 2019.
“#TOPSAthlete #AvinashSable has set a new national record in men’s 3000m steeplechase with timing of 8:20.20 at the Federation Cup in Patiala. The #Tokyo2020 bound runner broke his own record of 8:21.37 set in 2019. #JeetengeOlympics #GemsofSAI,” SAI Media tweeted.

In October 2019, Sable had secured a berth in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in men’s 3000m steeplechase after finishing 13th in the final of the World Athletics Championships.
The qualifying cut-off for the Olympics was 8:22.00 and Sable completed in 8:21.37, setting a new national record.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju congratulated Avinash for setting a new national record.

On Tuesday, Murali Sreeshankar had qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the long-jump event after he set a national record in the ongoing Federation Cup.
The 21-year-old Sreeshankar set a national record after making a jump of 8.26 metres in his final attempt at the Federation Cup and as a result, he attained qualification for the Olympics.



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Kento Momota eyes Olympic gold after recovering from crash | Badminton News – Times of India

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Kento Momota feared he would be unable to play badminton again after a road accident in Malaysia left him with serious injuries last year, but having returned to full fitness the world No.1 says he is gunning for gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
Japanese shuttler Momota, 26, fractured his nose and right eye socket, and sustained multiple lacerations to his face after the van he was travelling in crashed into a truck in January last year.
The accident, which killed the van driver, occurred hours after Momota had secured his first victory of the season at the Malaysia Masters.
“For me, getting through that crash was a massive thing; my outlook on life really changed after that,” Momota, who is set to return to elite-level competition at this week’s All England Open, told BBC.
“I stopped taking for granted the everyday things that I was able to do in life. I never really thought about quitting the sport but I did worry that I would be left unable to play it anymore.
“I was also able to rediscover the joy in badminton.”
Momota said he does not feel the pressure of being one of Japan’s major hopes for a gold medal at the Games, which were postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’ll just do the best I can and not listen to any other voices around me,” he said. “I just want to go for that gold medal to grow the profile of badminton in my country.”

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Federation Cup: Murali Sreeshankar qualifies for Tokyo Olympics, sets national record in long-jump | More sports News – Times of India

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PATIALA: Murali Shreeshankar on Tuesday qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the long-jump event after he set a national record in the ongoing Federation Cup.
The 21-year-old Shreeshankar set a national record after making a jump of 8.26 metres in his final attempt at the Federation Cup and as a result, he attained qualification for the Olympics.
“Sreeshankar qualifies for Olympics! #TOPSAthlete long jumper #Sreeshankar has qualified for #Tokyo2020 with a national record jump of 8.26m at the Federation Cup. He surpassed his own record of 8.20m and the Olympic qualifying mark of 8.22m. #GemsofSAI #JeetengeOlympics,” SAI Media tweeted.

The qualification mark for the Olympics was 8.22 metres. Men’s long jump final was the only field event final scheduled for the second day of the Federation Cup.
Javelin thrower Annu Rani’s single-minded determination to produce a throw in excess of the Olympic qualification standard of 64.00m led her to rewrite her own national record with a 63.24m effort on the opening day of the 24th Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports complex on Monday.

The 27-year-old World No. 12 came up with a standout performance, with three throws beyond 61m, and she led Uttar Pradesh to a three-gold show in four finals. The ball was set rolling by Savita Pal, 21, who made her debut in a 10000m race a memorable one by sprinting past Sanjvani Jadhav (Maharashtra). Shot putter Kiran Baliyan accounted for the third gold with a 16.45m effort.



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Wrestler Sushil Kumar to skip selection trials for Asian Olympic qualifiers | More sports News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Two-time Olympic medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar has decided to skip the selection trials for the Asian Championships and the Asian leg of the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers, which are scheduled to be held at the K D Jadhav indoor wrestling hall on Tuesday.
In the absence of Sushil, all eyes in the highly-competitive freestyle 74kg category will be on comeback-man Narsingh Yadav, Jitendra Kumar, Gourav Baliyan and reigning national champion Sandeep Singh Mann.
Sushil confirmed on Monday that he will be opting out of the trials due to the crucial training time lost in clearing the mess in the School Games Federation of India (SGFI), which he’s heading as a president.
The London Olympics silver medallist was unanimously elected the SGFI’s chief last week for his second term after the sports ministry told the school body to hold fresh elections by declaring the earlier electoral process conducted in February “null and void”.
“I got a call from the wrestling federation this morning enquiring about my participation in trials. I told them that I won’t be able to participate because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind due to the ongoing mess in the SGFI for the past three-four months. The forgery committed in my name took a toll on my mental health and I wasn’t focusing 100 percent on my training. Now that I have started practising again, any event or Tokyo qualifier coming up next will see my participation. It has always been my mantra that I don’t compete in tournaments without proper training. When you are performing for the country, you want to be fully fit and committed,” Sushil said in a video message released to the media.
Sushil confirmed that he won’t be retiring from the wrestling scene anytime soon and will continue participating in events coming up next. The Olympic qualifier will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan from April 9 to 11 followed by the Asian Championships from April 13 to 18 at the same venue.
The final event (World Olympic qualifier) is scheduled in Sofia, Bulgaria from May 6 to 9 and Sushil informed that he’s looking forward to the meet. But, in case if someone manages to win a quota place in the 74kg category at the Almaty Olympic qualifier, then Sushil’s chances to compete at the Tokyo Games would stand all but over.
The trials on Tuesday will be held in three Olympic weight categories in freestyle — 74kg, 97kg and 125kg and all six weights in the Greco-Roman – 60kg, 67kg, 77kg, 87kg, 97kg and 130kg.

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Annu Rani betters own javelin national record, still misses Olympics mark | More sports News – Times of India

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PATIALA: Annu Rani bettered her own javelin throw national record but still missed the Tokyo Olympics qualification mark by more than half a metre on the opening day of the Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championships here on Monday.
Rani clinched the gold with a best throw of 63.24m which she came up with in her third attempt, obliterating her earlier national mark of 62.43m which she had recorded during the World Championships in Doha in 2019.
The Tokyo Olympics qualification mark for women’s javelin throw is 64m.
The 28-year-old, who had won a bronze in the 2014 Asian Games and a silver in the Asian Championships in 2019, was representing Uttar Pradesh in the national event.
Sanjana Choudhary of Rajasthan was a distant second with a best throw of 54.55m while Haryana’s Kumari Sharmila was third with a best effort of 50.78m in the eight-athlete field.
Rani led Uttar Pradesh to a three-gold show from four finals on the day. The ball was set rolling by 21-year-old Savita Pal who made her debut 10000m race a memorable one by sprinting past Sanjvani Jadhav (Maharashtra). Shot putter Kiran Baliyan accounted for the third gold with a 16.45m effort.
On a day when no men’s final was scheduled, the other gold medal was won by Tamil Nadu Pole Vaulter Rosy Paulraj, who leapt over the bar placed at 3.80m.
Yet, it was her state-mate S Dhanalakshmi who produced a stunning race in the women’s 100m semifinals. She threw down the gauntlet for Dutee Chand (Odisha) with a 11.38-second 100m sprint.
Taking to the track after Assam’s Hima Das won her heats in 11.63 seconds, Dutee Chand clocked 11.51 without straining too much.
In the men’s 100m semifinals, Gurindervir Singh (Punjab) set a personal best time of 10.30 seconds. It was the third fastest time by an Indian sprinter behind the 10.21 clocked by Anil Kumar in 2000 and the 10.26 by Amiya Kumar Mallick in 2016 and Sanjeet Singh in 2018.
It equalled the 10.30 clocked by Mohammed Abdul Najeeb Qureshi in 2010.
The seasoned MR Poovamma led the eight qualifiers into the women’s 400m final, powering to victory in 54.34 seconds, the second fastest time this season. The only other runner who dipped under 56 seconds was Aishwarya Kailash Mishra (Maharashtra) with a time of 55.05, while VK Vismaya found herself running in the wrong lane after the first 100m.
Muhammad Anas Yahiya (Kerala) showed his form by topping the men’s 400m qualification for the final with a 46.26 second run. Arokia Rajiv (Tamil Nadu) also showed good form by winning his semifinal heats in 46.84 after Amoj Jacob had stopped the clock in his heats in 47.80 seconds.

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Indian paddlers falter in Olympic qualifying singles event | More sports News – Times of India

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KOLKATA: Indian paddlers failed to win berths in Tokyo Olympics, with all four contenders making early exits from the World Singles Qualification Tournament at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena in Doha. A total of nine places, four men and five women, were up for grabs in this tournament.
While the men’s duo of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran were knocked out on Sunday, both the women’s paddlers Manika Batra and Sutirtha Mukherjee could not progress to the finals of knockout rounds, which would have kept them in contention for Olympic tickets in the singles events.
National champion Manika Batra came close before going down to World No. 44 Yang Xiaoxin of Monaco 1-4 in the semifinals of her knockout group. Yang made a great start winning the first game 11-9 and then outplayed 25-year-old Batra in the second grabbing it 11-4. However, the Indian World No. 63 made a great comeback to win the third game 11-8, but she failed to hold on to her rhythm the next two going down 4-11, 9-11.
Earlier, Mukherjee, who got past Belgium’s Lisa 4-0 in the first match of the knockout rounds, lost out to Russia’s Polina Mikhailova in the knockout quarterfinals. The former national champion, however, did put up a good fight before losing 2-4.
Mukherjee won the first game 12-10, but lost the next two 7-11, 8-11. She pulled things back with an 11-8 win in the fourth and fought hard in the fifth losing 12-10. However, the Russian rival outplayed her in the last game winning 11-5.
The Indian paddlers will train eyes at the Asian qualifying event, which begins on March 18, to book their places at Tokyo Games.

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