Jinson Johnson breaks his own national record, qualifies for World Championships

Jinson Johnson breaks his own national record, qualifies for World Championships

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India’s star long distance runner Jinson Johnson created headlines at the ISTAF Meet in Berlin as he managed to break his own previous record of 3:37.62, which was made earlier this year. Amidst uncertainties from some of the best athletes at the World Championships, this is a huge boost for India.

Though Johnson clocked a brilliant 3 minutes 35.24 seconds to break his previous record in the 1500m, he could only finish behind Joshua Thompson of United States at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin to clinch the silver medal. 

The ISTAF has been a part of the IAAF World Challenge meetings, which is the second tier of global one day athletics events. Hence, it has been qualified as the penultimate leg of the IAAF World Challenge meetings this year.

The 28-year-old runner from Kerala had made a national record back in at Nijmegen in the Netherlands, where he had taken two seconds more. However, the athlete, who had previously won the 2018 Asian Games gold in 1500m clocking 3:44.72, was seen shattering that record on Sunday. He also holds the 800m national record (1:45.65).

Consequently, Johnson also managed to qualify for the World Championships, which has been scheduled to be held in Doha from September 28 to October 6, having a qualifying time of 3:36.00.

“I was expecting to set new national record but did not expect to win the silver. I will now go to Colorado in USA for further training and then to Doha for World Championships,” Jinson said after the event, reported PTI.

“I am very happy. But my ultimate aim is to do well in Tokyo 2020.”

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