Indian mixed 4x400m relay team wins historic gold medal in Bangkok
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India's mixed 4x400m relay team achieved a significant milestone by winning the gold medal at the inaugural Asian Relay Championships in Bangkok on Monday.
The team, comprising Muhammed Ajmal, Jyothika Sri Dandi, Amoj Jacob, and Subha Venkatesan, clocked a time of 3 minutes and 14.12 seconds, setting a new national record. This timing surpassed the previous national record of 3:14.34, which was set by the Indian team while winning the silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.
The Indian team led in all four legs of the race. Sri Lanka secured the second position with a time of 3:17.00, while Vietnam finished third at 3:18.45.
Despite this achievement, the team missed the target of entering the Paris Olympics qualification bracket. Monday's performance will place India 21st on the Road to Paris list of World Athletics, an improvement from their previous 23rd position. However, the goal was to secure either the 15th or 16th spot.
Only sixteen teams will compete in the mixed 4x400m relay event at the Paris Olympics. Fourteen teams have already qualified automatically during the World Athletics Relays in Nassau, Bahamas earlier this month, leaving just two spots to be filled based on the best timings of countries until the qualification deadline of June 30.
Currently, the Czech Republic (3:11.98) and Italy (3:13.56) hold the 15th and 16th spots in the Road to Paris list, below the top 14 teams that have secured their tickets to Paris during the World Athletics Relays, where India did not make the grade.
India aimed to better the time of 3:13.56 to secure the 16th spot but fell short. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) may consider sending the mixed 4x400m relay team to international competitions before the June 30 deadline to improve their chances.
India will compete in the men's and women's 4x400m relay races on Day 2 of the championships on Tuesday.
In the Bahamas, the Indian mixed 4x400m relay team of Rajesh Ramesh, Rupal Chaudhary, Avinash Krishna Kumar, and Jyothika Sri Dandi ran a poor race and did not qualify for Paris in the heat race of the first-round qualifiers. The team withdrew from the second round qualifiers after Ramesh was injured during the men's 4x400m relay race.
Later, both the men's and women's 4x400m relay teams successfully made the Paris cut during the second round qualification heat race.
