On Tuesday, July 2, World Athletics released the list of athletes who made the Paris 2024 Olympic Games through automatic qualification and rankings. The gold medalist from the Asian Games, Parul Chaudhary, became the only Indian track-and-field athlete to qualify for two events at the Paris 2024, namely the 3000m steeplechase and 5000m run.
In 2023, Parul Chaudhary broke the national record 3000m steeplechase at the World Athletics Championships, to secure her first quota for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The second quota at the upcoming multi-sporting extravaganza for the 29-year-old was confirmed earlier today when it was announced that she finished in 34th place among the top 42 athletics in the World Athletics Road to Paris Rankings.
As per the report from Sportstar, M Sreeshankar had qualified for the Paris 2024 by entry standard but since he won’t be taking part in the upcoming games, his compatriot Jeswin Aldrin could be in line to take his spot. This could happen if the criteria is about giving the place to the next best athlete via the world rankings in case of injury or otherwise.
Abhinav Bindra, the gold medalist from the Beijing 2008, spoke to the Indian athletes bound for the Paris 2024 during a meet and greet programme organised by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). He said, as per The Bridge, “I want to wish all the athletes the very best of luck. They’ve done us all proud already by giving it their all and doing consistently well over so many competitions. And now it’s their moment to shine on the world stage.”