BENGALURU: "Are you sure?"
Jinson Johnson kept asking his coach
Kunhi Mohammed
, unable to believe that he had bettered the Rio Olympics qualification mark in men's 800m. Targeting 1:46.00 seconds, on the final day of the qualification cycle, the Kerala athlete bettered the mark by a whisker crossing the line in 1:45.98s.
The fourth
Indian GP
on Monday saw some stunning performances as three more athletes claimed their individual berths to take India's Rio athletics squad number to an all-time high of 39 (assuming 12 athletes will make the grade in men's and women's 4x400m relay).
"Wow, I've made it by 0.02 seconds. Thank God for that," Johnson exclaimed as his coach lifted him up in joy. The Kerala athlete, who trains in Ooty, came close to qualifying more than once this season, but each time he narrowly missed the mark. "I had my personal best (1:46.43s) in Hyderabad but that was not enough. The weather was perfect and it all clicked today," he added.
Asked whether he was aware of
Sriram Singh
's long-standing record, Johnson said. "I know about his 40-year-old record, the oldest (1:45.77s, July 25, 1976). But I think I can beat it. The facilities now are much better compared to what he had," Johnson said.
Earlier,
Renjith Maheswary
rolled back the years in style as he leaped past the Rio mark and reclaimed his national record with an effort that was the third best in the world this year. "I was consistently doing in the 16.40m range as I made a few mistakes. Coming into this competition, I was confident of making the grade," said 30-year-old Renjith, who trained with NV
Nishad Kumar at LNCPE in Thiruvananthapuram.
Renjith was in great rhythm from the start as he served notice with a leap of 16.55m despite taking off way behind the board. The next one measured 16.75m. Working up a nice approach with the support of the motley crowd which did its best to provide the tempo, Renjith booked the Rio ticket with his third jump that measured 16.93m. But his best was yet to come. Pumped up by the crowd support, Renjith came up with the big one as he touched down at 17.30m to take back national record from
Arpinder Singh who set 17.17m in 2014.
It was Renjith's third effort above the 17m mark and the first after the bronze medal winning leap of 17.07m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. "I will do at least 17.31m in Rio," said Renjith who had fouled all his three attempts at the London Games.
In men's 200m, Dharambir Singh, who had served a two-year ban for doping in 2012, dipped below the Rio mark clocking 20.45 seconds. In the process, the Haryana athlete also eclipsed his own national mark of 20.66s set last year at the Asian meet in Wuhan, China.
Meanwhile, there was heartbreak for Neena V in women's long jump. Neena missed the mark by four centimetres, managing a best of 6.66m against the qualifying mark of 6.70m. It was the second-best performance by an Indian behind
Anju Bobby George's national record leap of 6.83m.