2021 Tokyo Olympics | Javelin thrower Annu Rani qualifies for the Games through world rankings

Annu Rani has been a consistent performer in the discipline for the past few years, having come tantalizingly close to qualifying for the 2021 Tokyo a few times. Recently, at the Inter-State Athletics Championships, in Patiala, the athlete registered a throw of 62.83m which was well short of the Olympic qualification mark set at 64.00m.

However, if an athlete fails to breach set parameters for qualification, then he/she can alternatively qualify by virtue of their world rankings. The top-15 athletes in the world earn a direct qualification to the Olympics. Annu Rani ranked 11 in the world has booked a ticket by virtue of the same.

The method of qualification takes into consideration the top five performances of an athlete during the qualification period, along with the points gained in different standards of competition. Annu’s top-five performances during the qualification period (excluding the national record throw recently) were 62.43m, 61.12m (both at 2019 World Championships, previous national records), 60.22m (2019 Asian Championships), 59.35m during a local meet in France in 2019.