Entry standards for Olympic Games athletics get tougher

The entry standards for the athletics events in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games are out. Expectedly, there is only a single standard, as had been done in respect of the qualification for this year’s World Athletics Championships. In quite a number of events the standards are tougher than those fixed for the World Championships. 

That means it would be an uphill task for lesser-rated athletes just to make it to the Olympics. Of course, Indian officials never tire of talking about that elusive medal from Olympic athletics. There is no harm in aiming for one, but you have to sort out the qualification business first.

Focus on women's 4x400

The Indian focus once again would be on the women’s 4x400m relay team as had been the case for the past two editions of the Olympic Games since the team made the final in Athens in 2004. India finished eighth in its heat in the Beijing Olympics in 3:28.83. The team comprised Satti Geetha, Manjeet Kaur, Chitra Soman and Mandeep Kaur.

The Indian relay team could not make the ‘cut’ for the London Olympics last time. With almost the entire women’s 4x400m relay team serving a doping suspension, the second-rung 400m runners led by M. R. Poovamma had very little chance of making the grade though optimism was not missing right up to the end of the qualification race.

Poovamma is the No. 1 quarter-miler in the country now. And the majority of the suspended athletes of 2011 have come back, most notably Mandeep Kaur, Ashwini A. C. and Priyanka Panwar. The combination of Panwar, Tintu Luka, Mandeep and Poovamma clocked  3:28.68 while winning the gold in the Incheon Asiad.
Poovamma is quite capable of achieving the standard in the 400m (52.00s) but as it happens invariably when a relay team qualifies for the Olympics, the tendency would be to discourage an athlete from competing in the individual event. This is an illogical approach, but it happens with Indian teams.

Today, if a medal for India in athletics in Rio is being mentioned, it is in respect of the women’s 4x400m relay only.

Relay qualification

The top eight teams of the World Relays to be held in May this year plus the top eight teams after that as per the rankings on July 12, 2016 would line-up in Rio in the relays. Those rankings, as in the past, would be based on the aggregate of the two best timings of the teams in international events up to July 11, 2016. Just two teams from two different countries need to be there for the results to be considered for ranking purposes. In the past the IAAF used to designate international meets in advance for relay qualification purposes.

If the Indian team performs as well as it did in the last Asian Games, qualification might not be difficult. However, in order to be in the medal hunt, the quartet will have look for something close to 3:20-plus bracket. At this point,  it looks an impossible task.

In 15 of the 22 individual events among men, the entry standards are better than the Indian National records. Some of them might be of marginal difference only, say for example men’s javelin standard of 83.00m. Rajender Singh Dalvir threw a phenomenal national record of 82.23 in the National Games in Kerala last February.

Indian possibilities among men

Looking at the events in which Indian athletes could possibly aim for qualification standards among men, discus should figure high, since the standard of 66.00m should be within reach of Vikas Gowda, who made the final of the event in London in 2012.

Gowda has only one mark over 66.00 in his career, his national record of 66.28m at Norman, USA, in 2012. He has three other marks over 65.00m. For the last Olympics the ‘B’ standard was 63.00 while the ‘A’ standard happened to be 65.00.

Triple jump should come next in the Indian qualification hunt. Arpinder Singh’s 17.17m last year and Renjith Maheswary’s best of 17.07m in 2010 compare favourably with the Rio Olympic standard of 16.90m.

The fact that Arpinder’s best last year happened to be 16.41m and he does not have any other mark of 17.00m apart from his Lucknow effort of 2014 that displaced Renjith from the national records list, could be pertinent here.

Renjith’s  overall record, in contrast, is better. The Kerala jumper has three marks of 17 metres or more and three other results of 16.90m or better.

The 20.50m set as the standard in shot put could be within the capacity of Om Prakash Singh or Inderjit Singh if not both. Om Prakash’s national mark stands at 20.69m. He does not have a mark over 20.07m after that though he does have five performances over 20.00m overall.

Inderjeet Singh, the most sensational shot putter in recent times crossed 20 metres for the first time at the last National Games. He is however well short of 20.50, with his effort of 20.14m in Thiruvananthapuram.

Walkers may have an easier task

The walkers have a comparatively easier task among men, with marks of 1,24,00 and 4,03,00 being fixed as standards for the 20km and 50km events.

Twelve of the 21 individual events among women have standards that are lower than Indian national records. This should not give the impression that anything is going to be easy. They are not in track events and though field events might look a lot better proposition for the Indian women, in terms of qualification, there could be hurdles.

The events that look beyond the reach for Indian women and have marks better than the national records are 100m (11.32s), 1500m (4:06.00), 100m hurdles (13.00), high jump (1.94), pole vault (4.50), triple jump (14.20), shot put (17.80), hammer (71.00) and javelin (62.00).

In women’s discus, in which Krishna Poonia made the final in London, finishing a creditable sixth, the qualification standard of 61.00m looks ordinary by Indian standards. However, Poonia has not touched 60 metres since her national record of 64.76 in 2012, while Seema Ankush Punia, the Asian Games champion last year, has recorded best of over 60 metres since 2006 only in 2012 and 2014. In 2012 the ‘B’ standard was 59.50 and the ‘A’ standard 62.00m. Seema has a personal best of 64.84 (This mark achieved in Kiev in 2004 has not been approved as a national record).

India had 13 qualifiers including four walkers in the last Olympics. Gowda and Krishna Poonia made the final while Tintu Luka made the semifinals in London. Walker K. T. Irfan had a highly impressive 10^th-place finish in the 20km event.

Tintu can look ahead

Luka, incidentally, should cross the qualification hurdle without much fuss. The standard of 2:01.00 should not be a very difficult proposition for Luka, P. T. Usha’s trainee at the Usha School of Athletics near Kozhikode, Kerala. Last time the standard was 2:01.30. For this year’s World Championships also it is 2:01.00.

By doing away with the ‘B’ standard, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has obviously attempted to tighten up the qualification. The ‘B’ standard used to be attainable for quite a number of athletes around the world in the past. The present standards are stiffer than 'B' and mostly slightly lower than the 'A' standards of the past.

Three athletes per event are still eligible to make it from a country but all of them will need to achieve the single standard.  If a country does not have a single qualified athlete, then it could field a male and a female athlete in an event of its choice except 10,000m, steeplechase and combined events.

The IAAF is aiming for a total of 2005 entries for Rio, men and women put together. If athletes who have achieved the norms do not make up the numbers, the IAAF would invite athletes based on their rankings in the world ranking list (except 5000m, 10,000m and road events) to be issued on July12, 2016. NOCs would be required to submit entries by July 18. The qualfication period has begun from January 1, 2015 and it will end on July 11, 2016.

How far the new TOPS programme of the Union Sports Ministry for the Rio Olympics would help boost athletics performance, with the help of experts from Ukraine, Belarus and other foreign countries is yet to be seen. Needless to say, looking at the entry standards the mere qualification itself looks an enormous task for the Indian athletes, especially if the proposed stringent doping control measures are put in place by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) and the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

(amended 21April, 2015)