NEW DELHI: Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Mission Olympic Cell drew the roadmap for the upcoming 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games in an athlete review meeting with regard to Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) athletes preparing for the 2020 competition, ANI reports. This was the first review after a series of international events such as the Asian Games and the Youth Olympics in consultation with the National Sports Federations.
It was undertaken on the parameters like global performance trends over the last three to four Olympic Games and two most recent World Championships, performance of competing international counterparts(athletes) in the last three years, high performance age of a typical Olympic medalist specific to each event, performance of Indian athletes in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and their progression chart as well as feedback from NSF, National Observers, High Performance Managers, Project Officers and Coaches, wherever applicable.
In athletics, the players were chosen based on three factors including medal probability, ability to finish in top eight in their respective events at Tokyo 2020 and developmental athletes for 2024 Olympics. Those included are Neeraj Chopra (Men’s Javelin Throw), Tejinder Toor (Men’s Shot Put), Seema Punia (Women’s Discus Throw), Arpinder Singh (Men’s Triple Jump), Md. Anas (Men’s 400m), Hima Das (Women’s 400m), Ayyasamy Dharun (Men’s 400m Hurdles), Jinson Johnson (Men’s 800m and 1500m), Sreeshankar Murali (Men’s Long Jump), Avinash Sable (Men’s 3000m Steeplechase).
In addition to the above, the athletes whose performances will be reviewed at the Asian Championships in April 2019 are Manjit Singh (Men’s 800m and 1500m), Tejaswin Shankar (Men’s High Jump), Gavit Murali (Men’s 10,000m), Swapna Barman (Women’s Heptathlon), and Beant Singh (Men’s 800m).
The wrestlers included under the TOPS scheme are Sandeep Tomar, Utkarsh Kale (Men’s 57kg freestyle), Bajrang Punia, Deepak Punia (Men’s 86 kg freestyle), Vinesh Phogat, Ritu Phogat, Pooja Dhanda (Women’s 57 kg freestyle), Sakshi Malik, Divya Kakran (Women’s 68 kg freestyle), and Sajan (Men’s Greco-Roman 77 kg).
Naveen, who competes in Men’s 57 kg freestyle and Vijay, who competes in Men’s Greco-Roman 60 kg are being considered for the developmental group for the 2024 Olympics.
In weightlifting, India’s best performance in the Olympics for women has been the bronze position and in the men’s category, 11th. Therefore the criteria for selection was set at medal probables for women lifters and top 10 for men’s. On the basis of that, Ragala Venkat Rahul (Men’s 96 kg), and Mirabai Chanu (Women’s 49 kg) were chosen for the TOPS scheme.
Athletes from other sports will be reviewed and added at a later stage.
