Indian Relay Teams Miss Out on Olympic Qualification, but Have Another Chance to Compete on Monday

Indian men’s 4x400m relay team of Rajesh Ramesh, Avinash Krishna Kumar, Jyothika Sri Dandi, and Anas Yahiya were the first Indian team to take the tracks at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium. However, they could only manage a sixth-place finish in heat 2 with a timing of 3:20.36.

The Indian women’s 4x400m relay quartet of Vithya Ramraj, MR Poovamma, Jyothika Sri Dandi, and Subha Venkatesan clocked 3:29.74 to finish fifth in heat 1. Although the Indian athletes missed out on an Olympic quota on Sunday, they will have another opportunity on Monday. All teams who did not make the finals will compete in an additional qualifying round, and the top two teams from each heat will qualify for Paris 2024 Olympics.

Meanwhile, Rajesh Ramesh suffered cramps in his leg muscles while running his second leg in heat 4 and fell off the track. As reported by the Athletics Federation of India, he was unable to continue due to an injury. The mixed quartet had a chance to compete against Botswana (2:59.73) and South Africa (2:59.76) who finished first and second respectively and secured Paris 2024 qualification in the men’s 4x400m relay event.