New Delhi: India’s mixed 4x400m relay team set a new national record and clinched the gold medal at the inaugural Asian Relay Championships on Monday. The team, composed of Muhammed Ajmal, Jyothika Sri Dandi, Amoj Jacob, and Subha Venkatesan, clocked an impressive 3 minutes 14.12 seconds, surpassing the previous national record of 3:14.34 set during the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.
Despite this achievement, the team missed the target of entering the Paris Olympics qualification bracket. Sri Lanka finished second with a time of 3:17.00, while Vietnam secured third place with a time of 3:18.45.
The new timing places India in the 21st spot, up from the previous 23rd, in the Road to Paris list of World Athletics. However, this falls short of the aim to reach the 15th or 16th spot necessary for Olympic qualification. Only sixteen teams will compete in the mixed 4x400m relay event at the Paris Olympics, with fourteen teams having already qualified during the World Athletics Relays in Nassau, Bahamas earlier this month.
Currently, the Czech Republic (3:11.98) and Italy (3:13.56) hold the 15th and 16th spots in the Road to Paris list, just below the top 14 teams that have secured their tickets to Paris. India’s target was to better Italy’s timing of 3:13.56 but fell short of this goal.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) may consider sending the mixed 4x400m relay team to compete in international competitions before the qualification deadline of June 30, in an effort to improve their timing and secure a spot at the Olympics.
India’s men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams are set to compete on Day 2 of the Asian Relay Championships on Tuesday. During the World Athletics Relays in Bahamas, the Indian mixed 4x400m relay team, including Rajesh Ramesh, Rupal Chaudhary, Avinash Krishna Kumar, and Jyothika Sri Dandi, did not qualify for Paris in the heat race of the first-round qualifiers. The team withdrew from the second-round qualifiers after Ramesh sustained an injury during the men’s 4x400m relay race. However, both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams managed to qualify for Paris during the second-round qualification heat race.
