KUALA LUMPUR: High jumper Nauraj Singh Randhawa shattered the national record to qualify for the Rio De Janeiro Olympics after winning gold at the Singapore Open on Thursday.
The two-time Sea Games gold medallist cleared 2.29 metres to match the Olympic qualifying standard while also breaking the national record of 2.27m held by Lee Hup Wei.
Nauraj, 24, becomes the first national track and field athlete to earn an Olympic berth for Rio and joins 12 other athletes from archery, cycling, diving, swimming, sailing and shooting in heading to Brazil in August.
His win at the National Stadium at Kallang was Nauraj's fourth in international competitions this year, adding to his three wins earlier on the Australian Athletics Tour.
Nauraj also improved on his personal best of 2.25 metres which he set at Canberra Track Classic in February, where he narrowly failed to the 2.29m height required for Olympic qualification.
This marks the first time a track and field athlete reached the Olympics without a need for a wild card since Beijing in 2008 when Hup Wei, Roslinda Samsu and Yuan Yufang qualified on merit.