Paris Olympics: Kiran Pahal to compete in women’s 400 m repechage round

Paris [France], August 5 (ANI): Indian athlete Kiran Pahal finished seventh in heat 5 in the first round of the women’s 400 m event at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 on Monday.

Kiran clocked timings of 52.51 seconds at the Stade de France and finished seventh in her heat and at the 39th spot overall. While Kiran failed to make it to the semifinals scheduled for today, she will have a chance at medal since she will feature in the repechage round on Monday.

The women’s 400 m repechage round is scheduled at 2:50 PM IST.

Notably, Jeswin Aldrin failed to breach the qualification mark in the men’s long jump event at the Stade de France on Sunday at the ongoing Paris Olympics.

Aldrin’s best attempt and his single successful jump out of three, of 7.61m in the Group B men’s long jump qualification, weren’t enough to allow him to take centre stage in the final of the event.

Aldrin’s best attempt secured a lowly 13th spot out of 16 in Group B. He failed to breach the qualification standard of 8.15 m. His attempt wasn’t enough to help him bag the rank among the top 12 best performers from both groups.

Overall, he ended in the 26th spot, bringing an end to the 22-year-old long jumper’s campaign in the qualification round.

He failed to register a clear jump in his first and second attempts. In his third and final attempt, Aldrin delivered his best attempt in the event, which wasn’t enough to seal his place in the final.

The long jump national record holder made the cut for Paris by occupying the 31st rank in men’s long jump.

Priyanka Goswami finished 41st in the women’s 20km race walk at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 on August 1.

The 28-year-old runner clocked 1:39:55 at the Trocadero on her second Olympic appearance. She was the only Indian participant in the event in Paris.

Yang Jiayu of the People’s Republic of China won the gold medal with a season-best time of 1:25:54. Spain’s Maria Perez also notched a season-best 1:26:19 to bag silver and Australian athlete Jemima Montag settled for bronze with an Oceania record of 1:26:25.

Goswami ranked 41st in the women’s 20km race walk with a time of 1:39:55.

At Tokyo 2020, Goswami was in the lead of the 20km race walk event at the halfway mark but slipped down to finish 17th. Later, she became the first Indian woman to medal in the 10000m race walk at the 2022 Commonwealth Games (silver).

Earlier in the day, Indian runner Vikash clocked a time of 1:22:36, securing the 30th position in the men’s 20km race walk at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Thursday.

For the Paris Olympics, India fielded a 29-member athletics contingent. The athletics event kicked off on August 1 and will conclude on August 11. Apart from race walk events, all athletic events will be held at the Stade de France.

The most notable competitors for India in athletics are world champion and Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Jena in the men’s javelin throw. India’s ‘Golden Boy’ Neeraj Chopra will defend his gold medal in the men’s javelin throw event.

The qualification round for the javelin throw will take place on August 6, while the finals will take place on August 8.

Also, Asian Games gold medallist Annu Rani will be contesting in the women’s javelin throw.

Muhammed Anas/Muhammed Ajmal/Amoj Jacob/Santhosh Tamilarasan/Rajesh Ramesh/Mijo Chacko Kurian, the Asian Games gold medallists, will also be aiming to carry forward their momentum in the men’s 4x400m relay event.

Another dark horse contender for an Olympic medal will be Avinash Sable, who will be contesting in the men’s 3000 m steeplechase event, in which he is the national record holder.

He will be aiming to earn an Olympic medal for himself after some fine medal-winning performances in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.