Rio Olympics: Indian squad tops century mark

India will be sending a strong 102 contingent to compete in the upcoming Rio Olympics 2016, which starts from 5 August. The 100th Indian athlete to qualify was Mohammad Anas, from Kerala. This 21-year old ran 400 meters in 45.40 seconds to qualify for Rio at the Polish Athletics Championship.

The Indian contingent to the 2008 Olympics featured 56 athletes, which jumped to 83 in 2012. India’s strongest suit is the 12-member shooting team includes nine men and three women. The wrestling team, comprising eight players, also includes internationally successful and experienced grapplers like Yogeshwar Dutt and cousins Vinesh Phogat and Babita Kumari. India is for the first time, sending a full, four-person squad.

Dutee Chand made history by becoming the first Indian woman to qualify. The 99th to make it to the contingent, the Odisha athlete timed 11.24 seconds—Rio qualifying time is 11.32 seconds—at the XXVI International Meeting in Kazakhstan. Chand will be the first athlete since PT Usha to compete in this event.

India will miss the services of Vijender Singh, Mary Kom in Rio but has hopes on Shiv Thappa and others to bag medals. India is hoped to bag a medal in hockey, badminton, tennis.