Indian steeplechase sprinter Lalita Babar became the first Indian in 32 years to qualify for the finals of an athletics event at the Olympics. She qualified for the finals of the 3,000-metre steeplechase event ,
- Lalita clocked a national mark of 9 minutes, 19.76 seconds while finishing fourth in heat 2 and progressed to the final, scheduled on August 15, on the basis of being among the fastest six from the rest who did not directly qualify from the three preliminary heats.
- The top three in the three heats gain automatic qualification while Lalita, hailing from Maharashtra, made the grade as one of the six fastest from among the rest.
- Lalita, who had won the bronze medal in the event in the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, two years ago, in fact finished with the seventh-best time in the heats with the new national record to boot.
- Lalita, thus, became the second Indian woman to qualify for an Olympic final in track and field after ‘Payyoli Express’ P T Usha in the 400m hurdles in 1984 at Los Angeles.
- Vikas Gowda, in men’s discus, was also the last from the country to make the finals in athletics — in 2008 at Beijing.
- Lalita obliterated the previous mark standing in the name of Sudha Singh (9:26.55), clocked in Shanghai in May.
