Athletics
India’s Annu Rani and Kishore Jena won the gold medal in the men’s and women’s javelin throw events, respectively, at the Lebanon Athletics Championships 2023 in Beirut on Friday.
Annu Rani recorded a best throw of 55.32m to top the six-woman field. Her effort, though, was far from her national record-setting mark of 63.82m, achieved last year.
In four competitions since the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, where she won the bronze, Annu Rani has not crossed the 60m mark.
Annu Rani’s distance at Lebanon, however, was more than double of what silver medallist Lynn Nader (26.48m) managed.
In the men’s event, Kishore Jena hurled the spear 78.96m to win the gold. His personal best is 82.87, achieved in Bhubaneshwar last month.
Tokyo 2020 Olympian Shivpal Singh won the silver with a 73.34m throw, a modest effort compared to his personal best of 86.23m achieved at the 2019 Asian championships in Doha.
Seven men competed in the men’s javelin event. Nabil Al-Akoumi was third with 59.79m
Tokyo Olympics champion Neeraj Chopra holds India’s national record in men’s javelin throw courtesy his 89.94m mark, registered at the 2022 Stockholm Diamond League in Sweden.