PARIS: World Athletics (WA) president Sebastian Coe on Thursday lauded World and Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra for putting India in the elite company of 100 nations who have won a gold in athletics at the Olympic Games.
“At Tokyo we had 22 member federations winning gold medals. And we now have 100 countries winning a gold medal in athletics. And that 100th was India, courtesy Neeraj Chopra with his outstanding effort in the men’s javelin throw,” Coe told reporters at a press conference as the blue-riband sport kicked off with the race walk competitions.There are 144 athletics medals up for grabs in 11 days.
Asked about the prize money for the gold-medal winners, WA CEO Jon Ridgeon said: “Our athletes deserve more as our income grows. I hope to extend that to all three medals at Los Angeles. It’s the right thing to do. We are not the only one funding athletes; over 60% of NOCs have done that. I had conversations with many athletes from other sports. I think we made the right decision.”
On the shoe technology taking the human element away more, Coe said: “I think it’s the evolution of technology. We talked to the athletes and coaches and we are not perfect with the regulations. We will continue to monitor that but if we get faster times at stadia we welcome that.”
Coe, who won the 1500m gold in the Moscow Games in 1980 and Los Angeles four years later, said he was happy to see 1500m back in the spotlight.
Unanimous decision on Russia
The WA president also said that it was a unanimous decision of the WA council to not allow athletes from Russia and Belarus. “WA is not a political body and we made a tough decision on Russia and Belarus and that was done on the integrity of sport. There is a track and field team coming here and they have some very serious medal chances. It’ a very constrained world that the athletes have to operate in. And was it fair for them to compete against athletes from a country who demonstrated such aggression.”
Poor start for India
Meanwhile, India’s athletics campaign was off to a disappointing start in the men’s and women’s 20km race walk finals. Vikash Singh was the best placed Indian in the men’s event as he finished 30tn in a time of 1:22:36s.
Pramjeet Singh Bisht finished 34th in 1:24:48 while Akshdeep Singh had a DNF mark against his name. Ecuador’s Brian Daniel Pintado won the gold in 1:18:55.
In the corresponding women’s final, Priyanka Goswami finished 41st among the 43 who finished the race.
“At Tokyo we had 22 member federations winning gold medals. And we now have 100 countries winning a gold medal in athletics. And that 100th was India, courtesy Neeraj Chopra with his outstanding effort in the men’s javelin throw,” Coe told reporters at a press conference as the blue-riband sport kicked off with the race walk competitions.There are 144 athletics medals up for grabs in 11 days.
Asked about the prize money for the gold-medal winners, WA CEO Jon Ridgeon said: “Our athletes deserve more as our income grows. I hope to extend that to all three medals at Los Angeles. It’s the right thing to do. We are not the only one funding athletes; over 60% of NOCs have done that. I had conversations with many athletes from other sports. I think we made the right decision.”
On the shoe technology taking the human element away more, Coe said: “I think it’s the evolution of technology. We talked to the athletes and coaches and we are not perfect with the regulations. We will continue to monitor that but if we get faster times at stadia we welcome that.”
Coe, who won the 1500m gold in the Moscow Games in 1980 and Los Angeles four years later, said he was happy to see 1500m back in the spotlight.
Unanimous decision on Russia
The WA president also said that it was a unanimous decision of the WA council to not allow athletes from Russia and Belarus. “WA is not a political body and we made a tough decision on Russia and Belarus and that was done on the integrity of sport. There is a track and field team coming here and they have some very serious medal chances. It’ a very constrained world that the athletes have to operate in. And was it fair for them to compete against athletes from a country who demonstrated such aggression.”
Poor start for India
Meanwhile, India’s athletics campaign was off to a disappointing start in the men’s and women’s 20km race walk finals. Vikash Singh was the best placed Indian in the men’s event as he finished 30tn in a time of 1:22:36s.
Pramjeet Singh Bisht finished 34th in 1:24:48 while Akshdeep Singh had a DNF mark against his name. Ecuador’s Brian Daniel Pintado won the gold in 1:18:55.
In the corresponding women’s final, Priyanka Goswami finished 41st among the 43 who finished the race.
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