JOIN USVikas Gowda will open India’s campaign in the Olympic Games track and field on Friday when he lines up in the discus throw qualifying round.
Vikas, with little competitive exposure this year due to injuries, will compete in Group B of the qualification, featuring 18 throwers.
Eighth at London 2012, making it to the final will be a difficult proposition for the Indian who will be competing in his fourth Olympics. The qualifying mark is set at 65.50.
India also have an entry in shot put on the first day, with Manpreet Kaur attempting to qualify for the final. Manpreet has a best of 17.96, set last year and she needs to do better than that to make it past the first round.
In the afternoon session, starting at 11.00 pm IST, three Indians will feature in the 20km walk, with Gurmeet Singh, Manish Kumar and Ganapathi Krishnan hoping to make a mark.
Having fielded a big squad here, the onus is on the Indians to prove that their performances this season were not flashes in the pan. Triple jumper Renjith Maheswary, long jumper Ankit Sharma and the relay teams will be in sharp focus in this respect after claiming Olympic berths with spectacular efforts close to the deadline.
Improving upon their personal bests could well be the goal of the other Indians, including Dutee Chand in the 100M and Srabani Nanda in the 200. India also have entries in the 400M (both men and women), with Mohd Anas and Nirmala Sheoran hoping to prove a point or two.
A semifinalist last time, Tintu Luka has bigger ambitions in the women’s 800M while Lalita Babar and Sudha Singh will take their rivalry to another stage, matching wits in the 3000M steeplechase. The country’s marathon runners also carry no medal hopes but if they can compete with the best and improve their standards, their targets would have been met.