The surge of medals in track and field played a key part in pushing India’s tally past the century mark at the Hangzhou Asian Games. India won 29 medals (6-14-9) in athletics for their best Asiad haul and the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president, Adille Sumariwalle, said the performance showed things are on right track for Paris Olympics next year.
“We won 27 medals at the Asian Athletics Championships in July despite some of the big names like Neeraj Chopra not participating (Avinash Sable also didn’t compete in Bangkok). So, we expected we will do well at the Asian Games, it was only a matter of how well we would perform,” he said.
Sumariwalla though said India could have won a few more gold medals. In 2018 Jakarta, athletics accounted for 20 medals, including eight gold. This time, there were six gold.
“We lost out on 4-5 gold medals and some strategic middle-distance races where we could have won gold. We should have finished with at least 10 gold medals, but that’s okay. It’s a learning experience. I always say that the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games are a stepping stone to World Championships and Olympics.
“We will do better at the Paris Olympics compared to Tokyo. Look at the progression. In London (2012) we had just 14 athletes. The number increased in 2016 Rio and in Tokyo. You will see a greater number qualifying for Paris and making it to the final,” said Sumariwalla on the sidelines of a felicitation for the Asian Games athletics squad by AFI.
Some Indian athletes were at the receiving end of poor officiating in Hangzhou and AFI has raised the matter with World Athletics (WA). Neeraj Chopra’s first throw that seemed to go beyond 85m was not recorded while Kishore Jena’s throw was first called a foul though he had thrown from behind the line. It was rectified only after Chopra too stepped in to argue with the technical officials. Hurdler Jyothi Yarraji was shockingly disqualified along with a Chinese athlete who had jumped the gun. She successfully argued her case and then overcame the distraction to win silver.
“There were technical issues, not only in athletics, we saw that in kabaddi too. The kabaddi final was stopped for an hour. We have brought it to the notice of World Athletics and Olympic Council of Asia. Now it is the job of international federations to look into these issues,” said Sumariwalla, who is also a World Athletics vice-president.
Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Jena finishing one-two was a highlight of India’s medal rush.
“Neeraj had a great season where he was also crowned world champion. Jena and Manu DP were in the top six in Budapest (worlds). It shows that our javelin throwers have made an impact at the world stage.”
