Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri in action (AP)
It just wasn’t meant to be for Tajinderpal, who would register two foul throwds and a weak 18.05m attempt to end up at the 15th position, thereby being eliminated.
Indian shot-putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor slouched to a dreadful 15th position in the Men’s Shot Put Qualification event, thereby being eliminated at the Paris Olympics on Friday.
The Indian shotputter couldn’t get everything he wanted to with his first try and registered a throw of 18.05m, which landed him in 14th place at the end of the first round.
But unfrotunately for the Indian, it would only get worse. In his second attempt, he would visibly fall well short of the mark. But, regardless, the red flag was waved, therby rendering his attempt invalid.
With one attempt left, the Indian stood at 15th position, just one spot off being dead-last, and all hinging on his last attempt to save him.
The Indian needed to clear 20.09m set by Portugal’s Tsanko Arnaudov to break into qualification ranks.
But, it just wasn’t meant to be for Tajinderpal, who would once again register a foul throw and hence, end up at the 15th position, thereby being eliminated.
A two-time Asian Games gold-medallist and Asian champion, four-time national champion, an Olympian and former Asian record holder, Indian shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with an attempt of 21.49m – a new men’s shot put national record – at the fourth Indian Grand Prix in 2021. The 21.49 throw also broke the 12-year-old Asian record of 21.13m, set by Saudi Arabia’s Sultan Abdulmajeed Al-Hebshi.
The Punjab athlete has since improved the mark to 21.77m, achieved at the 2023 nationals in Bhubaneswar. Toor held the Asian record until June 2024, when it was eclipsed by Mohamed Daouda Tolo of Saudi Arabia in an athletics meet in Madrid.
But his campaign at the Paris Olympics now comes to a disappointing end to say the least.
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