Sushil, Swapna dropped from revised ‘Olympic Podium’ list

New Delhi: Double Olympic medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar and India’s first Asian Games gold medallist heptathlete Swapna Barman were on Thursday dropped from the latest Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) which was revised keeping in mind the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Sushil, who won bronze and silver medals respectively in 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics in 66kg freestyle category, crashed out in his first qualification bout at this year’s Jakarta Asian Games in the 74kg and the latest result didn’t go in his favour.
Besides Sushil, another big name to have been dropped from the latest TOPS list, which was reviewed last in July 18 before the Asian Games, is Swapna, who created a flutter in Jakarta by becoming India’s first gold medallist in heptathlon.
Keeping an eye on 2020 and 2024 Olympics, the government’s Mission Olympic Cell on Thursday reviewed three sporting disciplines — athletics, wrestling and weightlifting.
In athletics, the number has been reduced from 31 to just 10, which includes two new faces in triple jumper Arpinder Singh and steeplechaser Avinash Sable, who will be supported till the 2019 World Championships.
Besides, star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, Seema Punia, Mohammad Anas, Hima Das, Ayyasamy Dharun, Jinson Johnson and Sreeshankar Murali are other athletes who have retained their places in the new TOPS list.
In addition to the above, the performances of Swapna, Manjit Singh (men’s 800m and 1500m), Tejaswin Shankar (men’s High Jump), Gavit Murali (men’s 10,000m and Beant Singh (men’s 800m) will be reviewed at the Asian Championships in April 2019. (PTI)