Annu Rani Dharayan (born 28 August 1992) is an Indian

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

er from

Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. She was the first Indian to reach the finals of the women's javelin throw event in the

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

, Doha, 2019. Annu had qualified for the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

through world rankings after missing out on the Olympic Qualification mark. Her career best effort is 63.24m which helped her win the gold in the National Interstate Athletic Championship, Patiala, 2021.In the

2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

, Annu Rani scripted history as she became the first Indian female javelin thrower to win a medal, a bronze. She is the first Indian Javelin thrower to win a Gold medal in Asian games 2023 at Hangzhou.

Personal life and background

Annu Rani Dharayan was born on 28 August 1992 in village Bahadurpur,

. Her father Amarpal was a farmer. Her talent was identified by her brother, Upendra, who noticed her upper body strength during a cricket game. He began to train her by asking her to hurl sugarcane sticks in an empty field. Annu's first javelin stick was one that she crafted herself from a long piece of

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

, because she couldn't afford one. She started playing javelin throw first in the year 2010 at the age of 18. Her brother later began to pay for her training as well, despite her father's disapproval at girls pursuing sports. He finally came around to supporting Annu's talent after she proved herself by breaking the national record in 2014, and now supports her ambition.

Professional achievements

Annu Rani was initially coached by Kashinath Naik and is now coached by Baljeet Singh. In the 2014 National Inter-State Athletics Championship in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

, Rani won the gold medal with a throw of 58.83 metres, breaking a 14-year-old national record and qualifying her for the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

where she finished eighth. Later in the year, she won the bronze medal at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

in Incheon, South Korea, with a throw of 59.53 metres. Two years later she broke her own record again at the National Inter-state Athletics Championship with a throw of 60.01 metres. In March 2019, she broke her own record again with a throw of 62.34 meters at the National Senior Athletics Championships in

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

. Rani won the silver medal at the 23rd

Asian Athletics Championships The Asian Athletics Championships is an event organized by the Asian Athletics Association. History The competition courted controversy with the IAAF when political in-fighting arose after Israel was excluded from participation in 1977. That e ...

in Qatar on 21 April 2019, which qualified for the World Athletics Championship, becoming the first Indian woman javelin thrower to participate in World Athletics Championship. She won the bronze medal at the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

World Challenge event

Golden Spike Ostrava Golden Spike ( cz, Zlatá tretra) is an annual athletics event at the Městský Stadion in Ostrava- Vítkovice, Czech Republic as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1961. The history of the meeting was interru ...

in Ostrava, Czech Republic. She won the Sportstar Aces Sportswoman of the Year Award in Athletics in 2020. She won the gold medal in the women's javelin throw event at the 59th National Open Athletics Championship.

References

External links

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Annu Rani
at

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rani, Annu 1992 births Living people Indian female javelin throwers Sportspeople from Meerut Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for India Olympic female javelin throwers Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes from Uttar Pradesh Sportswomen from Uttar Pradesh South Asian Games silver medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in athletics Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for India