Indian mixed relay team breaks national record, wins gold in Asian Relays

The Indian 4x400m mixed relay team broke the national record en route to winning the gold medal at the ongoing Asian Relay Championships in Bangkok on Monday.

The Indian quartet—Muhammad Ajmal, Jyothika Sri Dandi, Amoj Jacob and Subha Venkatesan—clocked 3:14.12, 0.22 seconds shy of the previous national record, to win the gold medal.

The previous national record was achieved at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023, of which Ajmal and Subha were a part. The runners then clocked 3:14.34s.

Sri Lanka and Vietnam won silver and bronze in the 4x400m mixed relay event. The Sri Lankan team clocked 3:17.00 while Vietnam finished with a timing of 3:18.45s. Kazakhstan, Philippines, Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Qatar finished in the eight standings.

The Indian mixed relay team is vying for qualification for the Paris Olympics 2024 and the ongoing Asian Relay Championships are a good chance for the Indian team to qualify.

The Indian quartet failed to achieve the qualification standard at the World Relays in Bahamas earlier this month and the target for the team is to clock less than 3:13.56s to move into one of the two remaining ranking quotas, with the qualification cycle ending on June 30.

The Indian mixed relays team’s target was to beat Italy’s 3:13.56s to make it to the Paris Olympics through the World Rankings route. However, if any other team betters the timing, the Indian mixed relay team will not make it to the Paris Olympics 2024. As of now, India is ranked 21st in the Road to Paris list of World Athletics and qualification for the Summer Games looks bleak.