In a surprise for the athlete herself, 400m runner Kiran Pahal qualifies for 2024 Paris Olympics
In a surprise, Haryana athlete Kiran Pahal qualified for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics when she breached the Olympic qualification mark in the women’s 400m event at the ongoing National Inter-State Championships at Panchkula on Thursday.
It was a surprise for the athlete herself, as, by her own admission, she said she never thought she would be in the qualification race.
The qualification mark for the Olympics in the women’s 400m is 50.95 seconds, while Pahal clocked 50.92 seconds to qualify the prestigious quadrennial Games.
The 23-year-old said there was no bigger achievement than qualifying for the Olympics. “It is a surprise for me. I never thought I would qualify for the Olympics and prepare for it. There is no bigger achievement than this,” she said after the race.
Pahal was back on the tracks after one year. She was recuperating from multiple hamstring injuries that she sustained in the previous season. She admitted that she wasn’t fully fit yet.
The Haryana-based athlete’s last 400m race was at the National Open Championships in October 2023 in Bengaluru, where she clocked a disappointing 56.03s to crash out at the preliminary heats.
Pahal added that since she was running after almost one year, there was a bit of pressure on her to perform. “I was under a bit of pressure in the preliminary heats as I was running after around one year. I knew that if I do well in heats, I will do better in the semifinals because you get better runners in the semifinals,” she explained.
The 50.92s mark is also Pahal’s personal best.
The Haryana athlete won her semifinal heat, finishing ahead of Gujarat’s Devy Aniba Zala, who was a distant second with a timing of 53.44s. Kerala’s Sneha K came in third with a time of 53.51s.
Pahal clocked 52.33s in the preliminary round heats earlier in the day.
The 23-year-old athlete now has the opportunity to break Hima Das’ national record of 50.79s, which the runner created in 2018.