Indian athlete DP Manu made headlines on Saturday, winning the gold medal in the mens javelin throw event at the Taiwan Athletics Open 2024 in Chinese Taipei. DP Manu, who is the Asian Athletics Championships silver medallist, displayed an outstanding performance in the javelin throw final. On his last attempt, he achieved a distance of 81.58 meters, clinching the top spot on the podium. Chinese Taipeis Cheng Chao-tsun, who holds the Asian record of 91.36 meters, secured the silver medal with his best throw of 76.21 meters. His compatriot, Huang Chao-hung, took the bronze with a throw of 71.24 meters. The Taiwan Athletics Open is part of the World Athletics Continental Tour and is a bronze-level meet, attracting talented athletes from around the world.Athletics, Taiwan Open: GOLD FOR MANU DP!Brilliant performance from Manu in WACT🥉level meet in Taiwan as he wins Indias 1st🥇medal of the event in the mens Javelin throw event with a superb throw of 81.58m in his last attempt.. His overall series was impressive too..👏🇮🇳🥇 pic.twitter.com/Xm2gNA2N0c— Vishank Razdan (@VishankRazdan) June 1, 2024Manus journey to goldThis gold medal was DP Manus third podium finish of the season. Earlier, he won the Indian Grand Prix 1 in April and finished second behind reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra at the Federation Cup last month. Manu started strong in the final, taking the lead with a first attempt of 78.32 meters. He continued to improve, reaching 80.59 meters on his third throw. Despite a foul on his fourth attempt, he achieved 81.52 meters on his fifth try and finished with his best throw of 81.58 meters.Watch the winning moment:Video of Manus last throw which resulted in 81.58m.. pic.twitter.com/0CkmzFji6j— Vishank Razdan (@VishankRazdan) June 1, 2024Qualification scenario for Paris Olympics 2024Although DP Manus winning throw was impressive, it fell short of his season-best mark of 82.06 meters, recorded at the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar. Manu is still working towards meeting the Paris 2024 Olympics qualification standard of 85.50 meters in javelin throw. Athletes can also qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics by ranking among the top 32 in the world by the end of the qualification cycle on June 30. Manus personal best is 84.35 meters. He achieved this a couple of years ago.Other Indian athletes at Taiwan Athletics OpenIn addition to DP Manus success, other Indian athletes also performed well at the Taiwan Athletics Open. Nithya Ramraj won the silver medal in the womens 100m hurdles, clocking 13.23 seconds. Earlier in the day, she recorded a personal best of 13.12 seconds in the heats. Nithya finished second behind former world champion and Olympic silver medallist Nia Ali of the USA, who won gold with a timing of 12.80 seconds. The bronze went to Bo-Ya Zhang of Chinese Taipei, who finished in 13.28 seconds.Final day of competitionThe Taiwan Athletics Open meet concludes on Sunday, with more Indian athletes in action, including Nayana James, Dev Meena, Ankesh Chaudhary, and Somnath Chauhan. These athletes will compete in their respective events, aiming to add more medals to Indias tally and showcase their talents on an international stage.
