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London Olympics: Ahtletics - Player's profile

July 23, 2012

ATHLETICS

Men's discus throw

Vikas Gowda

The US-based discus thrower is one of the best medal prospects; he is the first Indian to win a Diamond League medal. Having participated in Beijing four years back, Gowda has experience of the big stage and has trained exceptionally hard.

He holds the national record in the event.

Age: 28

Achievements

Silver:

Won silver at Incheon Asian Championships in 2005

Won silver at Commonwealth Games in 2010

Won silver at Kobe Asian Championships in 2011

Bronze:

Won bronze at Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010

Women's discus throw

Krishna Poonia

A discus thrower with big goals, Poonia has set 65m as her target for London and believes her dream of an Olympic medal is realistic.

Age: 30

Achievements

Gold:

First Indian track and field athlete to win gold in the 2010 CWG in New Delhi

Bronze:

Won bronze in Doha Asian Games in 2006

Won bronze in Asian championships in 2007

Won bronze in Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010

Seema Antil

On August 3, Seema will be on the biggest sporting stage. She hopes her competition will not fizzle out, like it happened in Athens Olympics.

Age: 28

Achievement

Silver:

Won silver at Commonwealth Games in 2006

Bronze:

Junior World Championships in 2004

Bronze at Commonwealth Games in 2010

Men's 20 km race walk:

Gurmeet Singh, Baljinder Singh

Gurmeet Singh

The 20 km walker's usual timing is 1:19.00s, but Singh hopes to clock 1:18.00s at the Olympics.

Age: 27

Achievements

Silver:

Won silver at the National junior championships in 2000

Finished fifth in the 2001 Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Brunei

Women's 800m

Tintu Luka

The 800m national record holder had a mixed season. Going by her performance at the 2010 CWG, where she finished sixth, the spotlight on her at London could be a part of her learning curve.

Age: 23

Achievements

Gold: Doha Asian Games in 2006 (4x400 metres relay)

Bronze: Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010

Men's shot put

Om Prakash Karhana

This shot-putter bettered his national record in May, in Hungary.

The Haryana lad is eager to keep his promise and deliver a winning performance.

Age: 25

Achievements

Gold:

Won Gold at Kunshan Asian Grand Prix in 2009

Won Gold at Guangzhou Asian Grand Prix in 2009

Silver:

Won Silver at Doha Asian Indoor Championships in 2008

Men's marathon:

Ram Singh Yadav

Ram Singh Yadav is the first Indian to qualify for marathon at the Olympics in 36 years.

The Army Sports Institute (Pune) product finished 15th in 2:39:23s at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. But come London 2012, we can expect an exuberant performance from this army man.

Age: 33

Achievements

Won the Mumbai Marathon in 2012

Men's triple jump:

Renjith Maheshwary

The national record holder is a crowd charmer and wears his emotions on the sleeve.

Renjith Maheshwary achieved the 'B' standard for the London Olympics during the opening day of 16th Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championships in Patiala

Age: 26

Achievements

Gold:

Won gold at the Asian Grand Prix in Chonburi, Thailand in 2012.

Bronze:

Won bronze at New Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010.

Women's triple jump:

Mayookha Johny

Mayookha Johny became the first Indian woman to break through the 14-metre barrier in triple jump at the Asian Grand Prix in China in 2011.

Her national record (14.02 metres) at the Asian GP came on her last attempt.

Mayookha assured herself a place in the London-bound team by virtue of her bronze-medal winning effort at the last Asian championships in Kobe, Japan.

Age: 24

Achievements

Bronze:

Won bronze in the Kobe Asian Championships in 2011

Women's 3000m steeplechase:

Sudha Singh

The National record holder won the inaugural event at the Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010.

Age: 25

Achievements

Gold:

Won gold at Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010

Silver:

Won silver at Guangzhou Asian Championships in 2010

Won silver at Kobe Asian Championships in 2011

Women's High Jump:

Sahana Kumari

Karnataka high jumper Sahana Kumari became the 14th Indian athlete to qualify for the Olympics.

Age: 31

Achievements

Cleared 1.92m to achieve Olympic berth at the Senior National Championships in Hyderabad



Complete coverage: London Olympics 2012

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