Patiala: Tokyo Olympics-bound Tajinderpal Singh Toor broke the meet record thrice enroute to his shot put gold at the Inter-State Athletics Championships on Monday. Toor threw 20.63m in his second attempt which was better than the Inter-State Athletics record of 20.44m.
His next throw was 20.96m while his fourth attempt was 21.10m that won him the gold. With less than a month to go for Tokyo Olympics, the burly Punjab thrower was the most consistent athlete in the field as his five legal throws were more than the 20m-mark.
Earlier this week, at the Indian Grand Prix IV, Toor had achieved the Olympic qualification mark of 21.10m with a national as well as Asian record of 21.49m. However, woman javelin thrower Annu Rani gold medal-winning effort of 62.83m wasn’t enough to ensure her a spot at the Tokyo Olympics.
She bettered her own Inter-State meet record of 59.87m but fell short of the Olympic qualification mark of 64m. The deadline to achieve the Olympic qualification mark is June 29. Annu could still win a ticket to Tokyo based on her overall world ranking points. She is currently ranked 14.
