Eldhose running around to get visa for Worlds
The Hindu
KOCHI: With just four days to go for the World Athletics Championships in the USA, triple jumper Eld
With just four days to go for the World Athletics Championships in the USA, triple jumper Eldhose Paul is still running around in New Delhi to complete his visa formalities.
“I had my biometrics done today and will be going to the US Embassy tomorrow (Tuesday) for my visa interview. I hope to get my passport on Wednesday and have an early morning flight on July 14,” Eldhose told The Hindu on Monday. “I hope there is no further delay.”
When Eldhose first got the date for his visa interview, he was at Almaty (Kazakhstan) competing in the Qosanov meet in a last-minute bid to qualify for the Worlds through the rankings route.
He was successful, grabbing the last berth (triple jump is a 32-man event) in World Athletics’ ‘Road to Oregon rankings’ just before the qualification doors closed, but will now land in the US late on July 14 just before the start of the Worlds.
The men’s triple jump qualification round will be on July 21 evening with the final on July 23.
Unlike most of the Olympic-bound athletes, who opt to train abroad before the big event, boxer Amit Panghal prefers training in home conditions prior to Paris 2024. A former World championships silver medallist and a World No. 1, Panghal won the 51kg quota place in the only chance he got. He wants to follow his own plans to script success in Paris.
The other men’s semifinal Friday is Norway’s Casper Ruud, twice the runner-up in Paris — to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and to Novak Djokovic in 2023 — against Germany’s Alexander Zverev, a finalist at the 2020 U.S. Open, an Olympic gold medalist and into the final four at Roland Garros for the fourth consecutive year.