Elite Indian athletes plan to take European route to Paris Olympic Games qualification

Elite Indian athletes aspiring to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games are devising plans to compete in high-quality races in Europe.

“Without international exposure in 2024 it will be challenging to achieve an automatic qualification time of 54.85 seconds in 400m hurdles,” Vithya Ramaraj, national games champion in women’s 400m hurdles added.

At 24 years old, Vithya came close to breaking PT Usha’s long-standing record of 55.42 seconds set at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Vithya equaled PT Usha’s record time of 55.42 seconds during the women’s 400m hurdles heat earlier at the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games in China. She eventually won bronze at the Asian Games.

The Tamil Nadu hurdler mentioned that she saved some money to cover expenses for an upcoming international tour in Europe.

“I got a cash award for winning medals at the Asian Games,” the Asian Games bronze medalist in 400m hurdles said. Vithya was also a member of the national women’s 4x400m relay team that won silver and was a member of the gold medal-winning mixed 4x400m relay squad.

Vithya isn’t the only one taking the European route to Paris qualification, several other aspiring athletes, including Maharashtra’s promising 110m hurdler Tejas Ashok Shirse, share the same goal.

“My next year's plan is to compete on the European circuit,” Shirse said. “There is no one to push me at the domestic level. Regular international exposure is the only way to further improve my time.”

Shirse’s season and personal best time stands at 13.60 seconds, the Paris Olympic qualification time is 13.27 seconds.

Though Shirse has been one of the most consistent 110m hurdlers during the 2023 domestic circuit he couldn't achieve the qualification time for the Asian Championships in mid-July in Bangkok, Thailand, and the Hangzhou Asian Games in China.

Odisha’s javelin thrower Kishore Kumar Jena, an Asian Games silver medalist, aims to spend quality time in Europe to polish his skills ahead of the Paris Olympic Games. Jena and the reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra are two Indian javelin throwers who have already achieved Olympic Games qualification marks.

Athletes can qualify for the Olympic Games either through automatic qualification time or through the World Athletics global ranking system. Avinash Sable (3000m steeplechase), Parul Chaudhary (3000m steeplechase), and Murali Sreeshankar (long jump) have already qualified for the Paris Olympic Games.

According to World Athletics, athletes can achieve the Paris Olympic Games entry standard between July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.

Kashinath Naik, coach of international javelin thrower Manu DP, mentioned his trainee will compete at the European circuit to achieve the Paris Olympic qualification mark of 85.50m in the javelin. Manu competed at the 37th National Games, his last domestic competition this season, but his silver medal performance of 80.48m fell short of the Olympic Games' automatic qualification mark of 85.50m.

Priti Lamba, an Asian Games bronze medalist in women’s 3000m steeplechase, and Sanjivani Jadhav, a distance runner from Maharashtra are other aspiring athletes planning to compete in Europe next year.