Top Indian athletes Kishore Kumar Jena and Avinash Sable will be honing their final preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the Paris leg of the prestigious Diamond League one-day meeting series on Sunday.
Reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra was supposed to participate too but he opted out a couple of days back due to an adductor niggle.
Both Sable and Jena will look to acclimatize to the conditions of the city that will host the Olympics.
While Sable has not competed in many competitions this season with Inter-State Championships last week being his second Steeplechase event.
The 29-year-old Sable has competed in just two 3000m steeplechase events, one at the Portland Track Festival in the USA, where he has been training, and the other at the National Inter-State Championships in Panchkula, Haryana last week.
At the Inter-State, Avinash said, “I am looking to peak at the right time. I am not looking for timing at the moment but more match practice.”
He will face tough competition against Kenyans Abraham Kibiwot and Simon Kiprop Koech while Soufiane El Bakkali and Lamecha Girma will skip the meet.
Kishore Kumar Jena had a poor run this season registering poor throws of 75.49m and 76.31m at the Federation Cup and Doha Diamond League. Last week at the Inter-State Athletics Championships, Jena crossed 80m and found some rhythm.
He has a personal best of 87.54m which he did while winning a silver in the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.
Jena, who will be competing in his second Diamond League on Sunday after Doha, had revealed that he was coping with a minor left ankle pain, which he felt after the Federation Cup (May 15-19) in Bhubaneswar.
He will be up against the likes of Tokyo Olympics silver medallist and 2023 Diamond League champion Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic, former world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, and reigning Commonwealth Games medallist and 2023 World Championships silver winner Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan.
Schedule of Paris Diamond League 2024
The meet will start at 7:30 PM IST on 7th July 2024 while Javelin Throw will begin at 8:15 PM IST. 3000m Steeplechase will begin at 7:53 PM IST.
Where to Watch Paris Diamond League 2024
Paris Diamond League will be telecasted on Sports18 3 on TV.
Paris Diamond League 2024 Live Stream
Paris Diamond League will be live-streamed on the Jio Cinema app.