The Indian men's and women's 4x400m relay teams have progressed to the Paris Olympics after coming 2nd in their respective 2nd round bouts at the World Athletics Relays on Monday in Bahamas. The athletics event at the Paris Olympics commence on August 1st, while the main event gets underway on July 26th.
The quartet of Rupal Chaudhary, M R Poovamma, Jyothika Sri Dandi and Subha Venkatesan stood out among the women's contingent as they clocked 3 minutes and 29.35 seconds. Their timing was only behind Jamaica, who had recorded a close 1st (3:28:54) in the heat number one to progress to advance to the showpiece event in Paris.
Later, the men's squad of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Muhammed Ajmal, Arokia Rajiv and Amoj Jacob registered a collective time of 3 minutes and 3.23 seconds behind the United States of America, which recorded a timing of 2:59.95.
Indian men's and women's team perform poorly in the first-round qualifying heat
Meanwhile, both Indian men's and women's contingent failed to meet the expectations in the first-round qualifying heat. The women's squad finished 5th, while the men's contingent weren't able to finish as their second leg runner Rajesh Ramesh had to withdraw midway due to cramps.
India now have a staggering 19 field and track Paris-bound athletes, with the list including World Athletics gold medalist Neeraj Chopra as well.
