Indian men's and women's 4x400m relay teams qualify for Paris Olympics

The Indian men's and women's 4x400m relay teams secured their Paris Olympics berths as they finished second in their respective second-round heats at the World Relay Championships in Nassau, Bahamas, on Monday.

The Indian women's team of Rupal Chaudhary, M R Poovamma, Jyothika Sri Dandi and Subha Venkatesan clocked 3:29.35 seconds to finish second behind Jamaica (3:28.54) in heat number one to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

Rupal gave India a good start before Jyothika ran a blistering 400m at 51.36s to take India into the second position. Poovamma ran the bend at 52.35s to ensure India remained in contention for the Paris quota place. Subha came up with a magnificent 51.65s final lap to ensure the Indian women's team's qualification.

In the men's race, Arokia Rajiv replaced injured Rajesh Ramesh as he combined with Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Muhammed Ajmal and Amoj Jacob to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

The Indian men's team clocked their season-best timing of 3:03.23s to finish second in their heats behind the USA (2:59.95) and achieve the qualification to the Paris Olympics.

Muhammed Anas ran the opening leg, while Arokia stepped up to run the second leg. Ajmal ran the third leg while Amoj gave the finishing touch. 

On the second day of the World Relays, only the teams that could not make it to the Olympics on the opening day were in the fray for the Paris quota places.

The top two teams in each of the three heats in the second round secured their berths for the July-26-August 11 Olympics.

On Sunday morning, the Indian women's finished fifth in their first-round heat and 14th overall as they clocked 3:29.74s.

However, the Indian men's team had failed to finish the race after second-leg runner Ramesh withdrew due to muscle cramps at the first bend.

After the qualification of Indian men's and women's 4x400m relay teams, India's athletics contingent for the Paris Olympics went up to 19.