Beirut: Indian athletes Annu Rani and Kishore Jena bagged gold medals in the men’s and women’s javelin throw events, respectively, at the Lebanon Athletics Championships 2023 in Beirut on Friday.
As per Olympics.com, Annu Rani recorded a best throw of 55.32m to top the six-woman field. Even though, her effort was far from her national record-setting mark of 63.82m which she achieved last year. The Athletics Federation of India took to Twitter to announce the result of the Championship.
Indian javelin throwers dominated Lebanon national championship held in Beirut in evening today. Kishore Jena (78.96m) was winner in the men's event, while Annu Rani (55.32m) won gold in the women's event. Shivpal won silver (73.34m) in men's event.
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) July 21, 2023
Annu Rani has not crossed the 60m mark in four competitions since the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, where she won the bronze medal.
Annu Rani’s distance at Lebanon Athletics Championships was more than double of what silver medallist Lynn Nader (26.48m) managed to achieve.
On the other hand, in the men’s event, Kishore Jena achieved a distance of 78.96m to clinch the gold medal. He failed to get past his personal best distance of 82.87, which he achieved in Bhubaneshwar last month.
Tokyo 2020 Olympian Shivpal Singh won the silver with a 73.34m throw. Seven men competed in the men’s javelin event. Nabil Al-Akoumi was third with 59.79m
Tokyo Olympics champion Neeraj Chopra holds India’s national record in men’s javelin throw with his 89.94m mark, registered at the 2022 Stockholm Diamond League in Sweden. (ANI)
