India's mixed 4x400m team betters national record, wins gold in Asian Relay Championship
May 20, 2024
Bangkok [Thailand], May 20 : The Indian mixed 4x400m team of Muhammed Ajmal, Jyothika Sri Dandi, Amoj Jacob and Subha Venkatesan set a new national record and won gold medal at the Asian Relay Championships 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday.
The relay quartet stopped the clock at 3:14.12 in Bangkok to marginally better the previous national mark of 3:14.34, set by Ajmal, Vithya Ramraj, Rajesh Ramesh and Subha to win a bronze medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year.
Team Sri Lanka clocked 3:17.00 to win the silver medal while the bronze went to Vietnam, who timed their run at 3:18.45.
Despite the record-breaking effort, India are still not in the mix for a Paris 2024 Olympics quota in the mixed 4x400m event.
Having failed to secure a direct quota from the World Relays 24 in the Bahamas earlier this month, the Indian mixed 4x400m relay team will need to rely on the Road to Paris rankings to make the cut for the upcoming Summer Games, a release said.
The result in Bangkok will bump India up two places to the 21st position in the Road to Paris rankings but only a spot inside the top 16 will guarantee India a berth in the event at Paris.
Italy, with 3:13.56, currently occupy the 16th position in the mixed 4x400m relay Road to Paris rankings.
The qualification window for the Paris Olympics 2024 relay events ends on June 30.
The ongoing meet in Bangkok is the inaugural edition of the Asian Relay Championships. Paris-bound Indian men's and women's 4x400m relay teams will be in action on Tuesday.
