Javelin thrower Annu Rani exits Tokyo Olympics

Javelin thrower Annu Rani made her Olympics debut in Tokyo, but could not qualify for the finals of the event at the Tokyo 2020 Athletics.

Javelin thrower Annu Rani made her Olympics debut in Tokyo but could not qualify for the event's finals at the Tokyo 2020 Athletics.

The 28-year-old threw 50.35m in her maiden attempt in the qualification group A for the women's javelin throw at the Tokyo 2020 Athletics and was way below the qualifying mark of 63.00m.

In her second attempt, Annu improved on her range, reaching 53.19m. However, she slipped down to 14th position. Only the top 12 athletes from Group-A and Group-B could get a chance in the final.

Annu Rani finished on the 14th spot despite throwing the javelin to 54.04m in her third and final attempt.

The Indian athlete started in Bahadurpur village of Uttar Pradesh had breached the 60m mark in the National Athletics Championships. In fact, Rani was the first Indian woman javelin thrower to breach the 60m mark.

In March this year, after a long break due to the pandemic, Rani had broken her own national record for the eighth time in the Federation Cup with a throw of 63.24m.