“I would like to hit 1:46 or 1:45”- Ankesh Chaudhary aims to breach Paris qualification mark in his next 800m race
Indian athlete Ankesh Chaudhary bagged a gold medal in the 800m race at the Indian Grand Prix 1 2024 athletics meet at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday (April 30).
He clocked a timing of 1:47.72 to secure the first prize and, in the process, beat Asian Games 2022 silver medalist Mohammad Afsal, who finished second. Meanwhile, Sree Kiran emerged as the third-best finisher in the league.
When asked about his performance in the event, Ankesh Chaudhary wasn’t too content and aimed to perform better in the upcoming tournaments.
“This was season opener race. I tried my best but couldn’t reach my personal best score. In my next race, I would like to hit 1:46 or 1:45. Hope so, I will cross that mark very soon. The target is Olympics. I don’t know if it would happen or not but, I will try my best,” Ankesh told in an interview with NNIS.
Although Ankesh bagged the gold at the Indian Grand Prix 1, 2024, he missed his personal best score of 1:47:35 by a whisker. He hoped to breach that mark in his next event.
“As I said, it was my season opener race. I tried my best to hit my personal best. But, unfortunately, it didn’t happen. I will target to cross my personal best score in the next race,” he further said.
“We don’t really compete with each other" - Ankesh Chaudhary on competition with Mohammad Afsal
Ankesh Chaudhary beat the Asian Games 2022 silver medalist Mohammad Afsal to bag the gold medal on Tuesday. The duo enjoys a neck-to-neck battle but Ankesh dismissed all the talks surrounding the competition between the two individuals.
“I have competed against him in a lot of events. Sometimes, he comes first, sometimes, I have the upper hand. But, we don’t really compete with each other. We just try to count our best timing. If you see the European countries, they have a personal best of 1:42:, 1:43. So, we can’t judge ourselves for coming 1st or second. The target is to touch the national record of 1:42,” he told the aforementioned publication.
Ankesh Chaudhary also shed light on his experience with veteran Indian athlete Jinsen Johnson. The former labeled him as his favorite athlete and felt grateful to spend time with him.
“We were training together. He is my favorite athlete and an inspiration for me. He talks about positive things and we shared our views on upcoming events. I was lucky to train with him and for that, I owe him,” he concluded.
With the Paris Olympics 2024 approaching, Ankesh Chaudhary is aiming to hit 1:46 in a bid to secure a qualification spot.