Offenburg: Indian javelin thrower Annu Rani started her season with a 60.68m mark and finished sixth at the Hylo Javelin Meeting 2024 in Offenburg, Germany on Sunday.
In her first meeting since winning the Asian Games title last year, Annu Rani started slowly but registered her best throw of the day on her final attempt at the ETSV Stadion.
Reigning U20 world champion Adriana Vilagos of Serbia won the gold medal with a distance of 63.58m. African Games champion Jo-Ane Van Dyk of South Africa clinched the silver with 63.57m while Maria Andrejczyk of Poland, a Tokyo 2020 Olympics silver medallist, settled for bronze with 62.72m.
The 31-year-old Indian athlete produced a 57.14m throw on her first attempt at the meet, also known as the Hylo Speerwurfmeeting. She bettered it on her second attempt and recorded a distance of 59.38m.
Her next throw was ruled invalid and Annu Rani could not better her mark on the fourth and fifth attempts. She finally breached the 60m mark on her final try and finished sixth in the event.
Annu Rani has a personal best of 63.82m which she achieved at the Indian Open Javelin Throws Competition in Jamshedpur in 2022. It is also the women's javelin throw national record in India.
Her gold medal-winning throw at the 2023 Asian Games measured 62.92m. Meanwhile, the Paris 2024 Olympics qualification mark is set at 64m.
Annu Rani qualified for Tokyo 2020 through the world rankings route after missing the Olympic qualification mark. However, she could only achieve a best throw of 54.04m in the qualifying round and failed to make it to the final at the Tokyo Olympics. (ANI)
