Bhubaneswar: Thursday, September 17, will be a big day in Animesh Kujur’s young career.
The Odisha and India sprint star will be in action at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, in the Men’s 200m event.
The 22-year-old Kujur has been placed in Heat No. 3, alongside hot-shot American Kenny Bednarek, who bagged silver medals in the Tokyo and Paris Olympics.
There will be 6 first-round heats, with the top 3 from each of those races, plus the 6 fastest finishers, qualifying for Thursday’s semifinals.
Kujur, who holds the national record in both 100m and 200m, should qualify for the semifinals if he clocks anything near his personal best of 20.32 seconds.
Also in action on Wednesday will be our golden boy Neeraj Chopra as the Men’s Javelin competition gets underway. Gold-medallist in Tokyo Olympics and silver-medallist in last year’s Paris Games, Neeraj has been placed in Group A, while Pakistani rival and reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem is in Group B.
Both men should qualify for finals which will be held on Thursday.
Timings & Telecast (IST)
* Men’s 200m heats start at 4.45 pm; Kujur’s heat, featuring 9 runners, is slotted at 4.59 pm
* Men’s Javelin starts at 3.40 pm, with Neeraj in action in Group A, along with 18 other competitors
* Live telecast is available on Star Sports Network; Live streaming available on JioHotstar app/website.