Devendra Jhajharia, the 2016 Rio Paralympic champion in men's F-46 javelin throw category, improved his world record on his way to winning a berth at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, during the two-day national selection trials that concluded in Delhi on Wednesday.
The 40-year-old para-athlete from Rajasthan hurled the javelin to a distance of 65.71 metres during the trials which was better than his own record of 63.97m.
The Tokyo edition, which begins on August 24, will be Jhajharia's third Paralympics. The Rajasthani para-athlete first competed at the 2004 Athens Paralympics where he won gold. Jhajharia won his second gold at Rio.
Mariyappan Thangavelu, the Rio Paralympic Games high jump champion in men's F-42 , Varun Bhatti and Sharad Kumar are among the 24 para-athletes shortlisted by the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) for the Tokyo Games.
In men's F-64, Sandeep Chaudhary and Sumit Antil have made cut.
Antil holds the world record of 66.70 metres while Chaudhary won gold at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships held in Doha.
August 1 is the deadline to send final entries to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
On the basis of performance during the national selection trials, the PCI has shortlisted 24 para-athletes including four in the women's category for the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
More than 70 athletes who had achieved minimum qualifying scores (MQS) in their respective events were eligible to compete in the national selection trials.
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