For a discipline that has given Indian athletes only the Olympian's tag, the country's track and field participants will begin their campaign in the Rio Olympics on Thursday, with little hope to break the 116-year-old medal jinx.
Sachin Tendulkar has no hesitation in terming India as favourites going into the World Cup but what makes him happier is the team's ability to be competitive 'in any part of the world and on any surface'.
'With approximately 600 episodes that I have been involved in, it does seem like the enactment of a lifetime.' 'But I have never felt the years go by.'
The novel coronavirus outbreak has affected their Olympic preparations but India's top athletes like P V Sindhu and Bajrang Punia say they are optimistic about the quadrennial event going ahead as scheduled despite the current health crisis. Olympic silver-medallist Sindhu says she can understand the apprehensions of fellow shuttlers, including compatriot Sania Nehwal, who is racing against time to qualify for the Games due to the cancellation of tournaments in the wake of the outbreak. The Olympic Games are scheduled to start in Tokyo, from July 24.
The 22-year-old Anas clocked 45.32 sec under hot and humid conditions at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. He also qualified for the World Championships to be held in London in August. The entry standard for the World Championships stands at 45.50secs.
It is difficult to predict who among the Indians will reach the final
They shut up the naysers with sheer success.
This was due to the fact that they had already won the Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting honour.
India's long jumper Mayookha Johny won her second medal -- a silver in women's triple jump -- to add to her gold in long jump on the second day of Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, in Doha, on Saturday.
South African Caster Semenya's long and controversial reign as the queen of middle distance running looks set to be ended this year not by a track rival but by a new hyperandrogenism rule that will stop her from running 800 and 1500 metres races.
The Games' Sport-Specific Regulations (SSR) has been developed jointly by IOC and the IFs to determine the impact of a confirmed positive COVID-19 case and its management in competition formats and structures.
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The Sports Authority of India (SAI) Director General Jiji Thomson admitted that India has not progressed as an Olympic nation even after its best ever haul of six medals at the London Games in 2012 and the main reason is lack of bench strength.
The spot-fixing and betting scandal in the Indian Premier League has prompted the government to push for introduction of Sports Fraud Bill in the Parliament in the ongoing monsoon session, Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Thursday.
India clinched a gold medal in women's 4x 400m relay in a sensational race to finish sixth overall as the curtains were drawn on the 20th Asian Athletics Championships in Pune on Sunday.
Neeraj Chopra will have the weight of expectations on him when he begins his World Athletics Championship campaign on Thursday.
Rio Olympics-bound shot putter Manpreet Kaur stole the limelight as Indians pocketed five gold medals from athletics on the opening day of the event at the 12th South Asian Games, in Guwahati, on Tuesday.
The spotlight will be on Neeraj Chopra and Hima Das while Dutee Chand would look to prove a point when India's track and field athletes begin their campaign in the Asian Games in Jakarta on Saturday.
Rio-Olympics bound Tintu Luka grabbed the spotlight as she won the gold in women's 800m race on an uneventful third and final day of the Federation Cup National Athletics Championships, in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Experienced drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh returned to India's men's hockey team, which also features debutant Jaskaran Singh, for the tour of Australia, starting May 10.
Kerala CM seeks wild card entry for Chitra at Worlds
Jobless Manjit pipped pre-race favourite and national record holder Jinson Johson to take the gold in 1:46.15
In the medal standings, India were placed eighth with a compilation of seven gold, five silver and 17 bronze.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Hima Das missed the Asian Championships mark on the final day of competition
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Sports Ministry has cleared a 804-member Indian contingent, including 572 athletes, for the Asian Games but said it will bear the expense of 755 members with 49 out of 232 officials allowed at no cost to government.
An overview of India's underwhelming performance in athletics
Shot putter Manpreet Kaur and long distance runner G Lakshmanan grabbed gold medals on a remarkable opening day for India at the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships as the hosts won seven medals to sit atop the medal tally, in Bhubaneswar, on Thursday.
Heptathlete Swapna Barman added a dash of heroism to her historic gold medal
But her name surprisingly figured among the Indian participants in the entry list issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) late on Saturday.
Sudha Singh clinched a gold in women's 3000m steeplechase event to swell India's medal tally on the third and penultimate day at the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneshwar on Saturday.
The 24-year-old Punjab athlete clocked 1 hour 36 minute and 41 seconds, more than two minutes outside her season best of 1 hour 34 minute and one second, to finish 42nd out of 52 competitors who finished the race.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
The absence of top stars took some sheen away but India's record-breaking medal haul and a maiden top-of-the-table finish made the just-concluded 22nd Asian Athletics Championship here a memorable one.
World University Games silver medallist shot putter Inderjeet Singh achieved the qualification mark for the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 with a throw of 20.65m on the second day of the 19th Federation Cup at Mangala Stadium, in Mangalore, on Saturday.
.There are other things in the socio-economic arena which becomes more important than becoming an athlete.'
Asian Games medallist Tintu Luka ruled the track on the final day of competition at the 35th National Games, smashing an 18-year-old meet record to win the 800 metres gold before inspiring Kerala to the 4x400m title in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
'We haven't touched child prodigies. This will be the first film to do so. What if there is a special talent like him, do we have the infrastructure to deal with it? That is the larger question the film is trying to ask.' Budhia Singh: Born To Run director Soumendra Padhi discusses his new film.
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