Second leg runner Rajesh Ramesh pulled out due to cramps as the Indian men’s 4x400m team failed to finish its heat race at the World Athletics Relays here on Sunday, during round one of Paris Olympics qualifications.
The Indian quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Rajesh Ramesh, Muhammed Ajmal and Amoj Jacob was hoping to book a Paris ticket with a top-two finish in heat number four, but in a utter heartbreak, Ramesh left the race midway while clutching his left leg. Anas had already run the first leg.
“The men’s 4x400m relay team had a good start. Muhammad Anas clocked 45.93 seconds in the first leg, but the second runner — Rajesh Ramesh — fell down due to cramps in leg muscles at the first bend,” Athletics Federation of India (AFI) said in a statement.
Ramesh had run the mixed 4x400m race three hours before the men’s event.
India will have another chance on Monday during round two of Olympics qualifications where all the other teams which finished outside top-two in their respective heats on Sunday will try their luck for another shot at the Paris Games. The teams are expected to be divided into three heats and top two from each of them will book Paris ticket.
The same quartet had set an Asian record of 2 minutes and 59.05 seconds at the 2023 Budapest World Championships. India had failed to get past the heat round in the Tokyo Olympics.
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India also failed to make the Paris Olympics cut in women’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m relays on the first day of qualifications. Both the Indian teams of mixed 4x400m and women’s 4x400m will have to wait for Monday’s round two of Olympics qualifications.
In the mixed 4x400m event, the Indian quartet of Rajesh Ramesh, Rupal Chaudhary, Avinash Krishna Kumar and Jyothika Sri Dandi ran a poor race to finish sixth in heat number two with a time of 3 minutes and 20.36 seconds.
Later, the Indian quartet of Vithya Ramraj, M R Poovamma, Jyothika Sri Dandi and Subha Venkatesan finished fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 29.74 seconds.
The top two teams in each of the four heat races here qualify for the Paris Olympics to be held from July 16 to August 11. The remaining teams in all the heats will compete again on Monday in another qualification round for another six Paris Olympics spots.
The format is the same for all the five relay races — men’s and women’s 4x100m, men’s and women’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m — being held here.
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