Marathon runner Sudha Singh has secured a Rio Olympics slot, after finishing second in the 3000m steeplechase event at the Federation Cup in Delhi today. Race winner Lalita Babar, who is already Rio bound, broke her own national record on the penultimate day of the event.
Sudha said, “This is the first race for me in the 3000m steeplechase event, since the 2014 Asian Games. Hence, I was very tentative about my chances so far. But, I'm really happy and hope to participate in various international tournaments, ahead of Rio.”
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The 29-year old runner secured India's only Olympic qualification from the event. Two more national records were set on the first day, with Dutee Chand in the women's 100m and Amiya Mallick (Men's 100m) clocked 11.33 and 10.26 seconds respectively. The former narrowly missed out on a Rio slot by 1/100th of a second.
Babar has already qualified for the Olympics in both the 3000m event and Marathon. She went onto clock a time of 9:27.09 seconds, while Sudha finished with 9:31.86, 14 seconds ahead of the Rio standard (9:45.00).
Another national record was set in the Men's 400m event with Rajiv Arokiya, setting a time of 45.47 seconds, 0.7 seconds behind the Rio standard of 45.40.
Albeit very early in the season, Babar has set the fastest time in the world in 2016. However, most of the elite runners are yet to participate in any tournaments in the calendar year. The 26-year old finished eighth in the World Championships last year.
