Guwahati, June 27
Jinson Johnson ran one of the most memorable races in recent times as he smashed the legendary Sriram Singh's 42-year-old 800m record, the longest standing record in Indian athletics, to steal the spotlight on the second day of the 58th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships here today. The 27-year-old Johnson, representing Kerala, clocked one minute and 45.65 seconds to clinch the gold and better the earlier record of 1:45.77 set by Sriram during the 1976 Olympic Games.
He also booked a ticket for the Asian Games as the qualification mark is 1:47.50. "I have been improving my fitness and the conditions were very good. Before the race, I was not thinking about the gold. I told myself that I will go for the national record," Jinson said after the race. Jinson's earlier personal best was 1:45.98 in Bangalore in 2016.
"My (earlier) personal best timing was not that far away (from Sriram's). So I knew I can break it and I have done today. I was disappointed that I couldn't do well in Rio Olympics. Now I am very happy that I qualified for the Asian Games."
Manjit Singh of Haryana took the silver with a timing of 1:46.24 and also booked a ticket for the Asian Games. — PTI
Know Sriram Singh
Sriram Singh is arguably India's most celebrated middle-distance runner. He won two gold and a silver in the 800m event in the Asian Games in the 70s. The high point of his career came in the 1976 Olympics, where he made the final and led the race for about 550m. Eventually, he finished seventh. Incidentally, he’s the last Indian man to run in the final of the Olympics track event.
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