AAFI to send 24 athletes

But Bobby Aloysius performance, 1.83 metres, a little shy of her National record was a creditable one considering she had been out of competition for long.

“We had laid down our own standards of qualifying for the Olympics, which were higher than those set by International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF),” AAFI secretary Lalit Bhanot said.

The 24-strong team comprises 10 men and 14 women athletes with gold winning women 400 metre relay team, shot-putter Shakti Singh, discus thrower Neelam J Singh and javelin gold medallist Jagdish Kumar making it to the September 15 to October 1 Games.

AAFI had sent a provisional list of 33 athletes through Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to the Sydney Olympic Games Organising Committee, but has now pruned it to 24 with only one — Anil Kumar — having realistic chances of qualifying.

“We want to give him one last chance to make it to the team. He has to put up better show at Saturday’s Salwan Athletic Meet,” Bhanot said.

AAFI has also left a room open for men’s 4×100 metres relay squad, which came fourth at Jakarta as anchor sprinter Anil Kumar could not run there due to muscle pull while winning silver in the 100m dash.

Despite being selected in the Indian team for the Olympics, AAFI cautioned the athletes to give consistent performances in the Salwan meet or else their ticket to Sydney would be cancelled.

“We want to see a consistent show from all the Sydney-bound athletes. A lacklustre performance now, may affect their trip to Sydney,” Bhanot said.

The athletic team will leave in two batches — first on September 10 and second on September 20, Bhanot said.

Sprinter Anil Kumar, who struggled with muscle pull just at the finishing line in the 100 metre dash in Jakarta, has been included in the team regardless of whether the relay team qualifies or not.

“Anil has been running well and we want to give him a chance to get the feel of Olympic competition,” Bhanot said.

Anil Kumar will be one of the few athletes to represent India at the Olympics’ glamour event, the 100 metre sprint.

Controversies, which always run parallel to the world of athletics, had their share in India too with AAFI announcing that middle-distance runner and Bangkok Asian Games gold medallist Sunita Rani did not achieve the qualifying standards for the Olympic Games.

“Her name does not appear in the list of 24 hence there is no reason she would make it to Sydney,” Bhanot said.

But AAFI sources said Sunita Rani, whose name was sent in the provisional list to SOCOG, may finally go to Sydney and run. Bhanot was, however, noncomittal on this.

Bhanot said the entry of Sunita Rani was sent as AAFI was running close to August 25 deadline set by SOCOG. “We have to send entries of athletes who have chance to qualify. Since her fitness is not up to the mark, Sunita has missed the chance of going to Sydney.”

“There will be no chance to any athlete to qualify after the Salwan Meet,” Bhanot said.

Asked about ratification of National records that were achieved at the inter-state athletic meet in Chennai and Asian Meet in Jakarta, the AAFI secretary said there was no time now to do it.

“It will be done only after the Olympic Games,” he said but added that 200 metre runner Vineeta Tripathi, who has done excellently getting close to veteran PT Usha’s National record of 23.25 seconds by achieving 23.39 in Jakarta, may get a special consideration.

THE SQUAD: Men: Anil Kumar (100m), Shakti Singh (shot put), Bahadur Singh (shot put), Jagdish Kumar Bishnoi (javelin), Sanjay Kumar Rai (long jump), Lijo David, P Ramachandran, Manoj K Lal, Paramjeet Singh, Jata Shankar (all 4x400M Relay), and Anil Kumar (discus – subject to qualifying on Saturday).

Women: Rachita Mistry, Saraswati Dey (both 100m), KM Beenamol (400m), Neelam J Singh (discus), Gurmeet Kaur (jevelin), Soma Biswas, GG Pramila (heptathlon), Rachita Mistry, Saraswati Dey, Vineeta Tripathi, Anuradha Biswal, Jayalakshmi (all 4x100M Relay) and Beenamol, Manjima Kuriakose, Paramjeet Kaur, Jincy Phillips, Rosa Kutty, Soma Biswas (all 4x400m relay).