MP Jabir secured the gold medal in the men’s 400m hurdles at the Indian Grand Prix 2, held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Thursday. Jabir, an Olympian from Tokyo 2020, clocked a remarkable 49.94 seconds in the A final, edging out Asian Championships bronze medalist T Santhosh Kumar, who finished in 50.14 seconds. Sathish K rounded off the podium with a bronze, timing 51.46 seconds.
This event marked Jabir’s first competitive appearance since the Indian Championships in Bhubaneswar in June 2023. Despite his impressive sub-50 second run, Jabir fell short of the Paris 2024 Olympics qualification standard of 48.70 seconds.
Santhosh Kumar, who clinched the 400m hurdles gold at the Federation Cup earlier this month, showcased his versatility by winning the men’s 400m event. He finished with a time of 46.46 seconds, ahead of K Avinash, who clocked 47.30 seconds, and Kapil, who completed the race in 47.66 seconds.
The event also saw stellar performances from other athletes. Vithya Ramraj, a multiple Asian Games medallist, bagged two gold medals. She triumphed in the women’s 400m hurdles with a time of 57.28 seconds and later won the women’s 400m in 53.00 seconds, demonstrating her dominance across multiple events.
In the women’s shot put, Asian Championships silver medalist Abha Khatua took gold with a throw of 17.13 meters. Khatua, who set a national record of 18.41 meters at the Federation Cup 2024 earlier this month, is still striving to meet the Olympic qualifying mark of 18.80 meters.
The men’s pole vault saw a new meet record set by 20-year-old R Yugendran, who cleared a personal best of 5.20 meters to win the gold medal. M Gowtham claimed the silver with a 5.10 meter jump, while Sidharth AK secured the bronze with a clearance of 4.90 meters. They continue to compete, the focus remains on securing qualifications for upcoming global events, including the Paris 2024 Olympics.
