After Asiad gold, Arpinder Singh eyes Olympic podium finish in 2020

Arpinder Singh

Triple jumper and Asian Games gold medallist Arpinder Singh aims at a podium finish at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after becoming the first Indian to clinch a medal in the IAAF Continental Cup. Before the Tokyo Games, he has a golden chance to test his mettle at next year's Asian and World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

"This year has been really amazing for me. Next year, there is Asian Track and Field (athletics championships) and the World Championships and I hope to do well in these tournaments," Arpinder told reporters here Tuesday. After the Asiad gold, Arpinder created history by becoming the first Indian to win a medal in the IAAF Continental Cup at Ostrava in Czech Republic as he clinched bronze with a modest effort of 16.59 metres.

"My target is the Tokyo Olympics and I hope I get a medal over there as well," said Arpinder at a promotional event of Godrej Cinthol. "No doubt, the competition will be greater at the Olympics than the Asian Games. If we give our best, I'm sure we will get a medal. 17.17 is my best and even this year I did 17.09 in the inter-state (meet), so my performance has been very good. I am sure that I will get a medal in the World Championships if I do 17.40, which is my target," he said. Arpinder had jumped 16.77 metres in the Asian Games held in Palembang and Jakarta to clinch India's first gold medal at the continental show-piece in 48 years in triple jump.

The 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist has a personal best of 17.17 metres which he recorded in 2014. Though he clinched a bronze at the IAAF Continental Cup, Arpinder lamented that the functions post the Asian Games hampered his training, which affected his performance. "After the Asian Games, there were 10 days for the IAAF Continental. We came back and there were lot of functions, so training could not happen and the strength level went down....So our performance did not come good there.

"Next year I hope to do well," the athlete said. He said he took to triple jump after trying his hand at other events. "I started off in 100 metres but I failed. I was around 10-12 years old. Then I failed in 200 metres, 400 metres and then long jump. My father was very disappointed," he said about his journey before taking to triple jump.

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