Jinson Johnson breaks India’s longest-running national Athletic record

Promising middle-distance runner from Kerala, Jinson Johnson broke the national record in 800m that was set by Sriram Singh 42 years ago at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. The record of 1:45.77s of Singh was he longest-running national record in Athletics in India.

Johnson finished with 1:45.65s to break the record during the ongoing 58th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships in Guwahati. He not only won the gold in his event, but also qualified for the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games.

The Asiad qualification mark was 1:47.50s. Haryana’s Manjit Singh with 1:46.24s, Manipur’s Mohammed Afsal with 1:46.79s and Haryana’s Beant Singh with 1:46.92s also qualified for the Asiad after breaching the mark, but only top-two finishers will be selected for the Jakarta Games as per the rules.