Madari Pillyalil Jabir, better known as M.P. Jabir of Kerala has become the first Indian hurdler to qualify for Olympics in 33 years for the 400m hurdles event. Jabir has won a bronze medal previously at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships in 400 m hurdles with a timing of 50.22 seconds.
His qualification was confirmed after he won a gold medal at the recently concluded Iter-state Athletics Championships in Patiala. Jabir is part of the Indian navy and is posted in Kochi. The 25-year old is currently ranked 34 in world athletics. Jabir is the first male to qualify for the 400m hurdles in 57 years. The last person to qualify for the event was PT Usha during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. PT Usha also belongs to the same state that Jabir comes from, i.e. Kerala.
In the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, Jabir set his personal best timing of 49.13 to win bronze and achieved the qualification standard for the 2019 World Athletics Championships.
Jabir started taking keen interest in sprinting when he was in 11th grade and then he mastered himself in the 400m events. It will be interesting to see the Keralite competing in his first-ever Olympics.