Athletics
Olympics 2024 Athletics: Indian men's, women's 4x400m relay teams fail to reach finals
While the women's team had a disappointing run in their heats, the men's team did very well to achieve their SB but did not qualify.
The Indian men's 4x400m relay team finished fifth in their heats and failed to qualify for the final of the Paris Olympics 2024. (Photo Credit: Olympics.com)
India's athletics campaign at the Paris Olympics ended on Friday, with the exits of the men's and women's 4x400m relay teams.
The Indian men's team finished eleventh, whereas the Indian women's team finished fifteenth, and as a result, they failed to qualify for the finals.
Strong run from the men's team
The Indian men's team comprised Muhammed Anas, Muhammed Ajmal, Amol Jacob, and Rajesh Ramesh. Anas started off the race for the Indians and completed his run in 45.80 seconds. It was a slow start since he finished seventh and passed the baton to Ajmal next in line.
Ajmal ran brilliantly, making up the lost ground, finishing fourth in his leg, and completing his 400m race in 44.60 seconds, over one second quicker than his previous runner. But the team was still in seventh place.
Amol Jacob took the baton and ran well in his leg, finishing third and improving India's position by two, handing over the baton in the fifth spot. He ran his 400m in 45 seconds.
The last runner was Ramesh, who despite his best efforts, couldn't get India into the top four. He finished fifth in his leg with a timing of 45.18 seconds. In total, India finished the relay event in 3:00.58 seconds, fifth in their heats and eleventh overall.
India's position in its heats was moved to fourth after the Nigerian team got disqualified after it was adjudged that one of the Nigerian runners crossed lanes which led to the tripping of one of the South African runners.
This was the Indian relay team's season-best timing. But despite that, it bore little fruit since they could not make it into the final eight.
Subpar performance from the Indian women
The women's relay team could only manage an eighth-place finish in their heats, finishing their race in 3:32.51 seconds.
Vithya Ramraj started off the race for India and was quite slow in her run, finishing with 53.50 seconds. Jyothika Dandi followed that up with a very good run, finishing with a timing of 51.30 seconds, more than two seconds quicker than Vithya.
The last two runners were also subpar, with Poovamma and Subha Venkatesan finishing with 54.80 seconds and 52.91 seconds respectively. Team India finished last in their heats and 15th overall.
With this, the athletics campaign for India came to an end, with Neeraj Chopra only one to win a medal.
