Realistic Mayookha eyes top-six finish

Realistic about her chances in the Olympics, Indian triple-jumper Mayookha said she is targetting a top-six finish in London by improving her personal best effort.

Very few Indians have made it to the final round in Olympics track and field events and Mayookha said it would be an achievement if she makes the grade in London.

“I don’t want to promise big things. I want to qualify for the final round and that would be a big thing. My target is to finish in top six,” she told PTI from her training base in Germany.

Qualifying for the final round would not be easy for Mayookha, who holds the national record of 14.11M which she recorded in the Asian Championships last year.
Her best outdoor effort this year has been 13.57M according to the IAAF rankings though she has a season’s best of 13.95M in indoor competitions.

Her outdoor best of the season would not even put her among the top 100 in the IAAF list but Mayookha remains confident that she can improve in London. “I am confident of doing better than my personal best. I am crossing 14M at the training though, I would not want to have a target distance in London,” said Mayookha, who qualified for Olympics with a 14.11M effort in Kobe, Japan last year.

“I did 14.10M recently in a competition in Berlin. My preparations were satisfactory and I am looking forward to doing my best in London,” she said.

Her coach Shyam Kumar said Mayookha had a slight heel injury after the Asian Grand Prix in May in Thailand where she competed in long jump also but insisted that it has healed completely. “She had a slight heel injury after the Asian Grand Prix but it has healed now and she is doing above 14M consistently,” he said.