India's Women's 4x400m team withdraws from IAAF World Relays competition

The importance of the World Relays cannot be stressed enough with the event in Chorzow acting as a qualification event for the Tokyo Olympics as well as the World Championships to be held in the USA next year.

Reasons for the withdrawal have been pinned on injuries that have been suffered by certain members of the team. The entire 6 member shortlist comprised MR Poovamma, Subha Venkatesh, Anjali Devi, R Revathi, Kiran, Jisna Mathew, and VK Vismaya. The fastest timed runner Anjali Devi has been suffering from an injury she sustained in March this year that she has still not recovered from. Jisna Mathew has also been forced to withdraw due to an injury. All this has resulted in the team having to forfeit the competition due to a paucity of substitute runners as well.

In the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, the women's 4x400m team had finished 6^th in their heat with a total season-best timing of 3 minutes and 29 seconds. The athletes were MR Poovamma, Jisna Mathew, VK Vismaya, and V Subha. The time period of two years between the Doha Championships and the World Relays was critical in terms of improving timing and the overall performance of the team. This last-minute withdrawal will certainly be heartbreak for all the athletes.

The good news is that the Men's 4x400m and the women's 4x100m relay team will be making their way to Poland for the qualifications. India already has the mixed 4x400m team in the qualification bracket for the Olympics after their place was secured during the Doha World Athletics Championships held in 2019. More qualification places are expected to be secured in the coming weeks.