Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games 2022: Indian athletes who can win medals in athletics
Here are the Indians who are likely to win medals in athletics at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Murali Sreeshankar in action
After a poor showing at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the Indian athletics contingent will aim to come back home with more than the three medals won at Gold Coast. With the country's best-ever finish at the recently concluded World Athletics Championships in Oregon, the momentum should be on their side.
Day 5 of the CWG 2022 will see the commencement of athletics at the games where medal hopeful Murali Sreeshankar will begin his qualification in long jump. On the same day, Seema Punia and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon will compete in the Women's Discuss Throw final, but either one's chances at medalling are quite low.
Here are the Indians who have strong chances of clinching a medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games:
Annu Rani (Javelin Throw)
Annu Rani who was able to reach the finals at the Worlds, is another medal hopeful. She would be eager to convert her below-average showing at the World Championships into a medal in the CWG.
Avinash Sable (3000m Steeplechase)
Sable is another athlete who couldn't live up to his potential at the World Championships. The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games is the perfect opportunity for him to show his best. However, the Kenyan trio of Kipruto-Kibiwott-Serem, who did the clean sweep in the event last time out, is a major threat to Sable's medal hopes. He will have to better his PB of 8:12:48 to keep himself in the race.
Murali Sreeshankar (Long Jump)
Long jumper Sreeshankar can get his hands on the gold medal, provided he can come back to his best. At the Worlds finals, his longest distance was 7.96m, far below his PB of 8.36m. If he can learn from his shortcomings and produce jumps closer to his personal best then a podium finish is guaranteed for the national record holder.
Abdulla Aboobacker, Eldhose Paul, Praveen Chitravel (Triple Jump)
Out of the aforementioned names, only Paul was successful in reaching the triple jump finals at the World Championships, which earned him the title of being the first Indian triple jumper to do so.
In the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the three Indians are certainly going to be each other's competition, and if things go well, we might even see an Indian sweep at the triple jump pit.
