The Indian mixed 4x400m relay team failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics despite setting a national record, missing the target mark by exactly one second on the last day of the National Inter-State Championships here on Sunday. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) invited Sri Lanka and the Maldives to compete in the mixed 400m relay event, and India entered with two teams, A and B so that the timings could be used for global ranking purposes. Three national teams must participate to make an event an international one.
The Indian team aimed for 3:11.87 to pass Kenya (3:11.88) and finish 16th and last. But India’s Muhammed Anas, Jyothika Sri Dandi, Muhammed Ajmal, and Kiran Pahal won the race with a time of 3:12.87. In the process, the Indian team broke the previous national record of 3:14.12 seconds set at the Asian Relay in Bangkok in May. Interestingly, Kiran, who won the individual 400m by breaking the Olympic qualifying time of 50.95 seconds, was nominated to the Indian squad, despite training alone outside the national camp.
The AFI has a well-known policy of selecting relay teams only from national campers. The India B team of T Santosh, Vithya Ramraj, Amoj Jacob, and Subha Venkatesan finished second with 3:14.22. Sri Lanka finished third in 3:18.18, while Maldives came in eighth and last with 3:44.98.
The Indian mixed 4x400m relay team’s failure to qualify for Paris will be disappointing for the AFI. The men’s and women’s 4×400-meter relay teams have already qualified for the Olympics. In other events, Kishore Jena, who is headed to the Olympics, finished third in the men’s javelin thrower competition, which was won by Haryana’s Sahil Silwal with a throw of 81.81 meters. Vikrant Malik of Odisha finished second with 81.74m, while Jena took bronze with a second-round throw of 80.84.
Jena, an Asian Games silver medalist with a personal best of 87.54m, was relieved to regain his confidence with the 80-plus throw following a disastrous 75.49m effort at the Federation Cup in May. I felt ankle pain in my left leg (blocking leg) after the Federation Cup but I could not pinpoint when it happened. We consulted a doctor who told me not to worry about it. We reduced the load a bit and did recovery exercises and physiotherapy. The pain has reduced and it’s almost all right now. Still, I did not go all out today, Jena said.
