Worlds: A silver lining for India and the promise of a better future

Much like at the Tokyo Olympics last year, Indian athletics saved its headline moment for the closing stages of the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Enter Neeraj Chopra, exit India’s medal duck.

That one medallist to join Anju Bobby George in the short list of Indians on the podium at the Worlds was hardly a surprise, given Chopra’s incredible consistency post the Tokyo Games. And while he did take three attempts in the final before an 88.13m hurl lifted him the pecking order and landed the silver, Chopra’s maiden worlds medal and India’s first in 19 years was a Sunday morning treat.

As the dust settles on the spectacle in Eugene and shifts to Birmingham for the 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG) where more Indian athletes are expected to fight for medals, it’s worthwhile reflecting on the week that preceded Chopra’s cinematic Indian ending at the prestigious event.

Six Indians booked a spot in the finals in Eugene—the most by the country’s athletes in a single world championships edition—with Parul Chaudhary clocking a personal best in the women’s 3000m steeplechase. None of the finalists managed a personal best or even a season best in it. That goes for Chopra too, putting in perspective his roaring return post the Tokyo rumble and returns in the three competitions leading up to the Worlds .

India’s jumpers had stirred quite a buzz in domestic and international events this year, and two of them leapt into the final in Eugene. While Jeswin Aldrin and Muhammed Anees Yahiya couldn’t translate their multiple 8m-plus jumps through the season at the worlds, Murali Sreeshankar did for a place in the 12-man long jump elite. But a best effort of 7.96m for a 7th place finish meant the 23-year-old continues to search for his peak performance when it most matters. The Birmingham CWG would perhaps be a good starting point for that.

Eldhose Paul shone brightest among the troika of triple jumpers also comprising Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker, but even his final appearance ended with a below-par 16.79m and the 9th spot.

Avinash Sable, the serial national record-breaker in 3,000m steeplechase, was caught unawares in an interesting final race described as “very tactical and slow” by Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali who won gold in 8:25.13s, the slowest winning time in the event’s history. The runner from Beed, in his second Worlds final, could only clock 8:31.75, far off his most recent national record timing of 8:12.48 set at the Rabat Diamond League last month.

After bossing the Indian circuit leading up to the Tokyo Games where he reset his national record yet couldn’t to qualify for the final, Sable has shifted base to Colorado Springs for the last few months and participated in meets abroad with world-class competitors. How the 27-year-old paces his CWG run, a field missing the Moroccans and Ethiopians but not the Kenyans, after the Worlds experience would be interesting to see.

In the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, Chaudhary, who finished 12th, clocked 9:38.09, registering a new personal best and wiping 0.20s off her season-opening run at the Indian Grand Prix in March.

Apart from Chopra, Rohit Yadav and Annu Rani also flung their respective javelins among the elite finalists, but way below their best. While the young Yadav could only muster a best of 78.72m (his season and personal best throw of 82.54 came last month) to sign off eight spots below Chopra, the experienced Rani was disappointed with her 61.12 throw in the final, well below her national mark of 63.82 set in May.

Shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor was a no-show for his event in the Worlds, a groin injury ruling him out of the CWG too. However, the bulk from the rest will be there in Birmingham—with plenty more joining them—looking to increase India’s athletics tally from the 2018 edition that had one medal of each colour.

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