Babar sets national mark, Sudha joins her in Oly 3000m steeple

New Delhi Olympicsbound Lalita Babar today smashed her own national record to win the gold while Sudha Singh also qualified for the Rio Games while winning silver in womens 3000m steeplechase on the second and penultimate day of the Federation Cup National Athletics Championships hereSudha SinghLalita Babar Pic Atul KambleRajiv Arokiya set the second national record of the day while winning the gold in mens 400m race with a time of 4547secs missing the Rio Olympics qualification standard of 4540secs by 07secs at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Sudhas was the first Olympic qualifying effort in the Championships Two national records were created on the first day yesterday with Dutee Chand womens 100m and Amiya Kumar Mallick mens 100m both from Odisha clocking 1133secs and 1026secs respectively though both could not make the Rio cutMaharashtras Babar who has already qualified for the Olympics in both the 3000m steeplechase and marathon clocked 92709 to win the gold and set the national record in world leading time while Sudha representing Uttar Pradesh came up with a timing of 93186 and bettered the Rio Games qualification standard of 94500The performance of Asian champion Babar who finished eighth in 3000m steeplechase in the World Championships last year was also remarkable as she recorded the world leading time though it is very early in the season Sudha has also qualified for the Olympics in marathon but Athletics Federation of Indian officials said that both she and Babar will compete in 3000m steeplechase in Rio and not in marathon race The officials said that 3000m steeplechase has better chance for the duo doing better in the Olympics than competing in marathonFor Sudha it was a make or break race to make it to the Rio Games in 3000m steeplechase and emotion took over her as she expressed relief of booking a Rio berth under pressure There was pressure on me as it was my make or break race I want to compete in 3000m steeplechase in Olympics but since I was not competing in this event since 2014 Asian Games I am not getting any events outside the country So I have no chance to qualify for Rio in 3000m steeplechase except running in domestic meets she told reporters after the raceI am relieved now that I have qualified and I hope to run in international events in the runup to Rio Games she added It is learnt that within minutes of Sudha qualifying for Rio Games AFI Secretary C K Valson sent an email to Shanghai Diamond League organisers to allow Sudha to compete in the prestigious event to be held there on May 14 When you send your entry for an international meet the organisers would ask for timings of recent races but Sudha does not have any for the last one and half years as she was running only marathon So she cant take part in international events Now that she has qualified for Rio and she has got a good timing I have sent a request to Shanghai Diamond League organisers for her entry Valso told PTIMeanwhile Arokiya of Tamil Nadu ran the best ever 400m race in India by an Indian by clocking 4547secs to beat young Mohammad Anas Yahiya 4574s of Kerala The earlier national record of 4548secs was in the name of K M Binu of Kerala set in 2004 Athens Olympics In womens 400m race Anilda Thomas 5240secs of Kerala won the gold in an upset as she pipped preevent favourite M R Poovamma 5260 secs of ONGC to the second spot Anildas time missed the Rio qualification by 02 secs Another ONGC athlete Jauna Murmu 5337s bagged the bronzeIn womens discus throw 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Krishna Poonia who was returning to topflight competition after a long injury layoff won the gold with an effort of 5509m Poonias Haryana statemate Sandeep Kumari bagged the silver with a throw of 5493m while Navjeet Kaur Dhillon 5365m of ONGC took the bronze South Asian Games gold medalist Ajay Kumar Saroj posted a personal best of 34460 to win a hard fought mens 1500m race Sandeep Singh 34586 and Rahul Harveer Singh 34607 took the silver and bronze respectively As expected the womens 1500m race title went to O P Jaisha Asian Games bronze medalist in 41869 Her Kerala statemate P U Chitra collected the silver in a distant 42917 and Haryanas Adesh Kumari got the bronze 43058 It was Jaishas third victory in this event in Federation Cup Earlier she had won gold medals in 2006 and 2014 In mens long jump Kumaravel Premkumar Railways won the gold by clearing a distance of 788m while Ankit Sharma Haryana took the silver in 776m Karnatakas Samsheer finished a close third with a 762m leapThe was a small glitch also as light went off for a few 10 minutes during the mens hammer throw competition held at the training area outside the main stadium The competition was stopped for a while and resumed after around five minutes with the restoration of the electricity ResultsMenLong Jump 1 K PREM KUMAR RSPB 788m 2 ANKIT SHARMAHAR 776m 3 SAMSHEER KAR 762m400m Race 1 RAJIV AROKIA TN 4547 2 MUHAMMED ANASYAHIYA KER 4575 3 P KUNHUMUHAMMED ARMY 46081500m Race 1 AJAY KUMAR SAROJ ONGC 34460 2SANDEEP SINGH HAR 34586 3 RAHUL HARVEER SINGH DEL346073000m Steeplechase 1 NAVEEN KUMAR HAR 85504 2DURGA BAHADUR BUDHA MANI 90191 3 SACHIN PATIL MAH91299Hammer Throw 1 NIRAJ KUMAR RAJ 6846m 2 SUKHDEVSINGH HAR 6561m 3 GURJOHAR SINGH BSF 6183mWomen400m Race 1 ANILDA THOMAS KER 5240 2 M R POOVAMMAONGC 5260 3 JAUNA MURMU ONGC 53373000m Steeplechase 1 LALITA SHIVAJI BABAR MAH92709 2 SUDHA SINGH UP 93186 3 PARUL CHAUDHARY UP104749High Jump 1 SAHANA KUMARI KAR 180m 2 P ANGELDEVASIA KER 173m 3 KC CHANDANA KAR 173mDiscus Throw 1 KRISHNA POONIA HAR 5509m 2 SANDEEPKUMARI HAR 5493m 3 NAVJEET KAUR DHILLON ONGC 5365m1500m Race 1 O P JAISHA KER 41869 2 P U CHITRAKER 42917 3 ADESH KUMARI HAR 43058