Kiran Pahal Surprises with Olympic Qualification in Women's 400m

Haryana athlete Kiran Pahal qualified for the Paris Olympics in the women's 400m event, clocking a personal best of 50.92 seconds at the National Inter-State Championships. Despite personal and physical challenges, Pahal secured her berth by surpassing the qualification mark of 50.95 seconds.

Haryana's Kiran Pahal stunned the athletics community by qualifying for the Paris Olympics in the women's 400m. Clocking a personal best of 50.92 seconds on the opening day of the National Inter-State Championships, the 23-year-old surpassed the automatic qualification mark of 50.95 seconds.

In what was regarded as an exceptional performance, Pahal won her semifinal heat ahead of Gujarat's Devy Aniba Zala and Kerala's Sneha K. Returning after a year and overcoming multiple hamstring injuries, she expressed her surprise and joy at the unexpected achievement.

'It's a surprise for me. I never thought I would qualify for the Olympics and prepare for it. There is no bigger achievement than this,' Pahal emotionally stated. Despite the pressure of preliminaries, her final aspirations remain high as she aims to break the national record time of 50.79 seconds set by Hima Das in 2018.