Javelin thrower Shivpal Singh has successfully secured his maiden Olympic Games berth and will be joining Neeraj Chopra in the list to qualify for Tokyo Olympics 2020.
The 24-year-old Shivpal crossed the qualifying standard of 85m by hurling the spear to a distance of 85.47m in his fifth attempt to win gold in the ACNW Meeting at the McArthur Stadium, South Africa on Tuesday.
"Shivpal Singh qualifies for #Olympics @Tokyo2020 with a performance of 85.47m in Men's Javelin in #SouthAfrica," the Athletics Federation of India tweeted.
Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju also took to Twitter congratulating the 24-year-old. "Good news from track and field as Shivpal Singh qualifies for Tokyo2020 in men's javelin throw after an effort of 85.47m at the ACNW League Meeting in South Africa. Qualification mark was 85m. Congratulations Shiva," the tweet read.
Shivpal has a personal best of 86.23m when he won the silver medal at last year's Asia Championships in Doha. He had also taken part in the Diamond League meeting in the Oslo leg (Norway), where he finished eighth with a throw of 80.87m.
Last month, Chopra had managed a throw of 87.86m in the same tournament to seal his maiden Olympic berth. Both of them are currently together for a training stint.