“If I achieve my personal best, I may get a medal” - Praveen Chithravel on his medal chances at Paris Olympics 2024
Indian triple jumper, hailing from Tamil Nadu, Praveen Chithravel aims to achieve his personal best at the forthcoming Paris Olympics 2024, scheduled to start on July 26 in the French capital.
In May 2023, Praveen Chithravel created the men's triple jump record, with a jump of 17.37m at the Prueba de Confrontacion 2023 meet in Cuba. Interestingly, this leap is also his current personal best.
Praveen, who is training at NIS Patiala ahead of his travel to Paris, got candid with SAI Media in an exclusive interaction, revealing his aim for the upcoming Paris Olympics, preparations and qualification via the rankings route, and many more.
“I want a good jump and achieve my personal best. If I achieve my personal best, I may get a medal,” Praveen Chithravel told SAI Media.
Praveen Chithravel doesn’t have any regrets about missing the direct qualification
After missing out on the direct entry (Qualification entry standard is 17.22m) for the Paris Olympics 2024, Praveen made the cut for the Summer Games via the Road to Paris rankings.
In the men’s triple jump, two Indian athletes, Abdulla Aboobacker and Praveen Chithravel, have made the cut. While Aboobacker occupied the 21st place in the rankings, Chithravel was ranked 23rd. However, Praveen doesn’t have any regrets about missing out on the direct qualification.
In the recently concluded Indian Grand Prix 1 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, Praveen missed out on the direct qualification for the Paris Olympics 2024 by 10 cm as he jumped 17.12m while the qualification standard was set at 17.22m.
Nevertheless, Chithravel, who set the national record last year, assured the Paris ticket via rankings.
“Today also I did more than 17.20 m. (Qualification mark is 17.22m) Even in the Grand Prix in Bangalore, I missed the mark by only 10 cm. However, I qualified via rankings and I don’t feel whether it's good or bad but I feel comfortable,” he added.
In the Asian Games 2023 in China, Praveen jumped 16.68m to secure the bronze medal. Additionally, in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships 2023, he secured a silver medal with a leap of 16.98m.