Dubai: Indian javelin thrower Shivpal Singh became the second athlete to qualify in the throwing events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
This will be the first Games for the 24-year-old-year, who will join fellow javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra who have qualified earlier this year.
Singh crossed the qualifying standard of 85 metres with a throw of 85.47 emtres on his fifth attempt while winning the gold at the ACNW Meeting at the PUC McArthur Stadium, late on Tuesday.
“Shivpal Singh qualifies for #Olympics @Tokyo2020 with a performance of 85.47m in the men’s Javelin in #SouthAfrica,” the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) tweeted.
Chopra had qualified for the Tokyo Games with a throw of 87.86m at another Athletics Central North West (ACNW) League meeting in January.
Both Indian throwers are currently training at the ACNW base next to Potchefstroom in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality, North-West, South Africa. Shivpal Singh has a personal best of 86.23mts, while winning a silver medal in the Asia Championships in Doha last year. He had also taken part in the prestigious Diamond League meeting in the Oslo leg in Norway last year, where he finished eighth with a throw of 80.87mts.
Besides Shivpal Singh and Chopra, others who have already qualified in track and field for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics include men’s national record holder 20km race walker KT Irfan, Avinash Sable in the men’s 3000mts steeplechase along with the country’s mixed 4x400m relay team.
