Can Indian athletes in Tokyo overhaul the best track performances?

India will be sending a contingent of 25 for track and field events at Tokyo 2020, which began on July 23.

Till date, Milkha Singh and PT Usha are the only two athletes who have come within fighting range of the podium. Both of them narrowly missed out on the bronze medal: Milkha Singh missed the bronze in a photo finish with South Africa’s Malcolm Spence at Rome 1960 while PT Usha lost out on the bronze in 400m hurdles by one-hundredth of a second at Los Angeles 1984.

Despite producing many notable athletes, the country hasn’t yet won a single medal in athletics.

We look at India’s best performances in the track events they have qualified for at Tokyo 2020.

Men’s

3000m steeplechase

Gulzara Singh Mann competed in the event at Helsinki 1952. He finished 12th in the heats with a timing of 9:48.6 and did not qualify for the final.

Avinash Sable became the first male athlete since Mann to qualify for steeplechase. He made the Tokyo 2020 cut by clocking 8:21.37, a new national record at the time, at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha in October 2019.

4x400m relay

India’s best performance in 4x400m men’s relay was at Sydney 2000 with Lijo David Thottan, Purukottam Ramachandran, Jata Shankar and Paramjit Singh carrying the baton. They clocked 3:08.38 in the heats to finish fourth and missed out on advancing to the finals.

Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Noah Nirmal Tom, Amoj Jacob, Arokia Rajiv and Naganathan Pandi (reserve) will represent India in the event at Tokyo 2020.

20km walk

KT Irfan’s timing of 1:20:21, which saw him finish 10th in 20km walk at London 2012, is by far India’s best in the discipline.

He will be competing in 20km walk at Tokyo 2020 as well, along with Sandeep Kumar and Rahul Rohila.

50km walk

Basanta Bahadur Rama’s timing of 3:56.48, which was a national record, at London 2012 has been India’s best in men’s 50km race walk at the Olympics so far. He finished 33rd in a field of 63.

Gurpreet Singh is the only Indian competing in the event at Tokyo 2020. Ranked 105 in the world, Gurpreet’s personal best is 3:59:42, which he achieved in Ranchi in February this year.

Women’s

100m

Dutee Chand beat PT Usha’s timing of 12.27, which the Indian track legend had set in 1980, to record India’s best performance in 100m at the Olympics. She completed the sprint in 11.69 seconds to finish seventh in the heats. But it was not good enough to help her progress to the semifinal.

The 25-year-old will be India’s entry in 100m and 200m at Tokyo 2020 as well. She qualified for the event through her world ranking quotas: she is ranked 44 in 100m and 51 in 200m.

200m

Saraswati Saha finished fifth in the heats with a timing of 23.43 in 200m at Athens 2004. She failed to progress into the next round.

20km walk

Khushbir Kaur and Sapna Punia were the two Indian women who competed in 20km walk at Rio 2016. Kaur finished 54th with a timing of 1:40:33 while Punia failed to cross the finish line.

Priyanka Goswami and Bhawna Jat will represent India in the event at Tokyo 2020. Goswami is the current national record holder with a timing of 1:28:45, which she achieved at the National Racewalking Championships in Ranchi this February.

Note: MP Jabir will be the first Indian male athlete to compete at 400m hurdles. India has qualified for the 4x400m mixed relay (Team: Sarthak Bhambri, Alex Antony, Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan, Dhanalakshmi Sekhar) event, which will be making his debut at Tokyo 2020.