Odisha bureaucrat named Indian contingent’s team leader for IAAF World Championships

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Sports Department secretary Vishal Kumar Dev, who played a major role in successful hosting of 22nd Asian Athletics Championships here in Odisha, has been named as the team leader of the Indian contingent for the IAAF World Championships to be held in London from August 4 to 13.

The selection committee of Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has picked a 24-member team which will compete in 14 different disciplines at the IAAF World Championships.

Out of the 24 athletes, 14 are men, who will take part in eight events, while the remaining 10 women will compete across a total of six disciplines.

A 13-member support staff comprising team officials, coaches, masseurs and team doctor will also accompany the team which will depart for London in the first week of August.

Team:

Men: 20km walk- Irfan Kolothum Thodi, Devender Singh and Ganapathi Krishnan;

400m & 4x400m relay- Muhammed Anas Yahiya;

5000m & 10000m- Lakshmanan Govindnan;

110m hurdles- Siddhanth Thingalaya;

Marathon- Gopi Thonakal;

Javelin Throw: Neeraj Chopra and Davinder Singh Kang;

4x400m Relay- Arokia Rajiv, Amoj Jacob, Kunhu Mohammed, Mohan Kumar Raja, Sachin Roby.

Women: 20 km walk- Khushbir Kaur;

400m & 4x400m relay- Nirmala; Heptathlon- Swapna Barman;

Marathon- Monika Motiram Athare;

Javelin Throw- Annu Rani;

4x400m relay- Poovamma Raju Machettira, Jisna Mathew, Anilda Thomas, Jauna Murmu, Anu Raghavan.

Team officials & coaches: Vishal Kumar Dev, IAS, (team leader); Tony Daniel (team manager), Radha Krishnan Nair (deputy chief coach), Galina Bukharina (coach), PT Usha (coach), Surendra Singh (coach), Alexander Arstybashev (coach), Raj Mohan (coach), Bahadur Singh Chauhan (coach), Anju Bobby George (coach/observer), Arun Mendiratta (team doctor), Pawan Kumar (male masseur), Kinga Lidia (female masseur).