Indian men’s 4x400m relay team fails to finish Olympic qualifying race after Rajesh Ramesh suffers cramps – Firstpost

Nassau, Bahamas: Second leg runner Rajesh Ramesh withdrew due to cramps as the Indian men’s 4x400m team failed to complete their qualifying race at the World Athletics Relays in Nassau on Sunday, in the first qualifying round of the Paris Olympic Games.

The Indian quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Rajesh Ramesh, Muhammed Ajmal and Amoj Jacob hoped to book a ticket to Paris by finishing among the top two in the fourth heat, but in utter heartbreak, Ramesh left the race midway in holding his left leg. . Anas had already run the first leg.

“The men’s 4×400 relay team got off to a good start. Muhammad Anas clocked 45.93 seconds in the first leg, but the second runner – Rajesh Ramesh – fell due to cramps in his leg muscles at the first turn,” the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) said. in a press release.

Ramesh had run the mixed 4x400m race three hours before the men’s event.

India will get another chance on Monday in the second round of Olympic qualifying where all other teams who finished outside the top two places 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 rounds and the top two from each will book their ticket to Paris.

A difficult day for #TeamIndia at the world athletics relays in the Bahamas. 😤

India finished 25th with a time of 3:20:26 in the mixed 4x400m relay.

In the men’s 4x400m, an injury to Rajesh Ramesh forced India to withdraw without result.

In round 2⃣!#CraftingVictory 🇮🇳

– Inspire Institute of Sports (@IIS_Vijayanagar) May 5, 2024

The same quartet had set an Asian record of 2 minutes and 59.05 seconds at the Budapest 2023 World Championships. India had failed to clear the heat test at the Tokyo Olympics.

India also failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics in the women’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m relay on the first day of qualification. India’s mixed 4x400m and women’s 4x400m teams will have to wait until the second round of Olympic qualifying on Monday.

In the mixed 4x400m event, the Indian quartet of Rajesh Ramesh, Rupal Chaudhary, Avinash Krishna Kumar and Jyothika Sri Dandi had a poor race to finish sixth in the second heat with a time of 3 minutes and 20.36 seconds.

Later, the Indian quartet of Vithya Ramraj, MR Poovamma, Jyothika Sri Dandi and Subha Venkatesan finished fifth in the first heat with a time of 3 minutes and 29.74 seconds.

The top two teams from each of the four elimination races qualify for the Paris Olympic Games which will take place from July 16 to August 11. The remaining teams from all series will compete again on Monday in another qualifying event for six more places at the Paris Olympics.

The format is the same for the five relay races – men’s and women’s 4x100m, men’s and women’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m – which take place here.