Annu Rani, 2nd Indian woman javelin thrower to compete at Olympics, fails to reach final

Tokyo: India’s women’s javelin thrower Annu Rani failed to qualify for the final round after three poor throws in the Group A qualification round in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The national record holder finishes with 50.35m, 53.19m, 54.04m, and is out of contention for the final. She finished 14th among the 15 throwers.

It has been a disastrous outing for the Indian as she failed to even get close to her personal best of 63.24m. A distance of 63m will ensure her a place in final.

Poland’s Andrejczyk Maria is the red-hot favourite for this event and she qualified for the final with a throw of 65.24 in her first attempt. She holds the season best of 71.40, the best of the year.

Earlier this year, Annu Rani bettered her own javelin throw national record at the Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championships in Patiala.

Rani clinched the gold with a best throw of 63.24m which she came up in her third attempt, obliterating her earlier national mark of 62.43m which she had recorded during the World Championships in Doha in 2019.

She only qualified for the Tokyo Olympics on the basis of her world ranking. The Tokyo Olympics qualification mark for women's javelin throw was 64m.

The 28-year-old, who had won a bronze in the 2014 Asian Games and a silver in the Asian Championships in 2019, represents Uttar Pradesh in the national events.