New Delhi. Long jump athlete Jaswin Adrin and 5000m runner Ankita Dhyani on Sunday qualified for the Paris Olympics through the world ranking quota, taking the Indian athletics team to 30 members. Long jump national record holder Adrin and Ankita are named in the latest list published by World Athletics (WA). The national federations informed the international body about their athletes who will not compete in Paris due to various reasons despite making the cut.
A similar example is that of India’s top long jump athlete M Sreeshankar, who had to miss the Games due to injury despite getting a direct entry with the qualification standard of 8.27m. Adrien is ranked 31st in the list, while 32 players will participate in the men’s long jump event at the Olympics. Ankita was placed 42nd, which is the final ranking position. Both were out of the qualification bracket on July 2.
A top official of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) told PTI that both will be included in the Indian team. He said, “Yes, both of them have been included in the list through the world rankings and they will be included in the Indian team for the Olympics.” Indian Athletics Chief Coach Radhakrishnan Nair had said after the announcement of the 28-member team on July 4 that the selection committee of the national federation has decided that whoever qualifies for the Paris Games later will be included in the team.