Indian 4x400m mixed relay team fails to qualify for 2024 Paris Olympics

The Indian 4x400m mixed relay team broke the national record but the effort wasn’t sufficient to guarantee them a place in the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Indian 4x400m mixed relay team were trying to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics through the world ranking route after they failed to achieve the qualification through the qualifiers.

The Indian quartet – Muhammad Anas, Jyothika Sri Dandi, Muhammad Ajmal and Kiran Pahal – ran a splendid race to set a new national record at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Panchkula.

However, India missed the Paris Olympics bus by one second.

Anas, Jyothika, Ajmal and Kiran set a new national record of finishing the race in 3:12.87s but the effort wasn’t sufficient. India had to breach the 3:11.88s mark to go past Kenya to finish and move into the 16th spot, the last available spot through the world rankings.

There were two Indian teams – India A and India B – competing at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships.

While Anas, Jyothika, Ajmal and Kiran ran for India A, T Santhosh Kumar, R Vithya Ramraj, Amoj Jacob and Subha Venkatesan competed as India B. Sri Lanka and Maldives were the other international teams. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had invited Sri Lanka and Maldives so that the timings are eligible to be considered for World Ranking purposes.

Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Delhi state teams competed in the rest of the lanes.

Sri Lanka finished third with a time of 3:18.18s while Maldives finished eighth clocking 3:44.98s

The Indian men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams have already qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics.