Sports Ministry to fund 28 Indian athletes for World Athletics Championship in Budapest

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) Sports Ministry will fund the participation of the Indian contingent, consisting 28 athletes, for the upcoming World Athletics Championships, which will be held in Budapest, Hungary from August 19.

A 42-member contingent, including coaches and support staff, are heading for the world event which will have the best of the best athletes from across the world competing.

In the previous edition, a total of 6 individuals reached the finals at the World Championships in 2022 with 3 of them making it to Top 8 finishes & Neeraj returning with a historic silver medal. This was India's best performance in any edition of the World Athletics Championships.

The funding will cover the team's training cost, plus boarding/Lodging costs, airfare, visa costs and Out of Pocket Allowance (OPA) among other expenditures, a media release from the Ministry said on Tuesday.

Out of 28 competing athletes, 13 are Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) athletes and 15 would be competing at the World Championships for the very first time.

Former U20 World Athletics Championships silver medalist, Shaili Singh, is the youngest member of the contingent. The 19-year-old would be competing in her first senior World Championships this year.

Athletes who will be competing at the event are -- Jyothi Yarraji (1OOm Hurdles – TOPS Athlete), (Parul Chaudhary - 3000m SC), Shaili Singh (Long Jump – TOPS Athlete), Annu Rani (Javelin Throw - TOPS Athlete), Bhawna Jat (Race Walk),  Krishan Kumar (800m), Ajay Kumar Saroj (1500m), Santhosh Kumar Tamilarnsan (400m Hurdles), Avinash Mukund Sable (3000m SC - TOPS Athlete), Sarvesh Anil Kushare (High Jump), Jeswin Aldrin (Long Jump - TOPS Athlete), M Sreeshankar  (Long Jump - TOPS Athlete), Praveen Chithravel (Triple Jump - TOPS Athlete), Abdulla Aboobacker (Triple Jump - TOPS Athlete), Eldhose Paul (Triple Jump - TOPS Athlete), Neeraj Chopra (Javelin Throw -TOPS Athlete), D.P Manu (Javelin Throw - TOPS Athlete), Kishore Kumar Jena (Javelin Throw), Akashdeep Singh (Race Walk - TOPS Athlete), Vikash Singh (Race Walk), Paramjeet Singh (Race Walk - TOPS Athlete, Ram Baboo (Race Walk), Amoj Jacob (4 x 400m Relay), Muhammed Ajmal (4 x 400m Relay), Muhammed Anas (4 x 400m Relay), Rajesh Ramesh (4 x 400m Relay), Anil Rajalingam (4 x 400m Relay), Mijo Chacko Kurian (4 x 400m Relay)