Lalita Babar: I'm happy with a top-10 finish but could have bettered my timing
Despite falling short of a medal, Lalita babar has expressed her satisfaction at achieving a top-10 finish in the women’s 3000m steeplechase. The Maharashtra-born athlete believed she could have improved on her timing in the final, which was 3 seconds slower than what she managed in the heats.
Lalita Babar has revealed that she had set herself a target of finishing the final within 9 minutes 15 seconds. However, she managed a timing of 9:22.74 in the final and was ranked tenth in the end. It was 3 seconds slower than the timing of 9:19.76 Babar had managed in the qualification heats, which broke the national record.
"I'm satisfied with the finish, but not with the timing,” she said after the final race, reported PTI. “Overall, I'm happy with a top-10 finish but could have bettered my timing. The target was to go below nine minutes 15 seconds," she said. Babar became the first Indian woman athlete to reach the final of a track event since PT Usha's feat in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Babar also took the occasion to give her best wishes to Tintu Luka, who will take part in women’s 800m on Wednesday. She said, “Hopefully, she (Luka) will make the final and do well there.”
