Olympics 2021: Indian men's 4x400m relay team miss out on finals spot, finish 9th with new National and Asian Records

Tough luck for India! They miss out on qualifications by 0.88 seconds after an intensely fought 4x400m relay. They created the Asian Record for this category but still missed out on an opportunity to make it to the finals! After the first round of the heat, Muhammed Anas finished last and he was lagging behind. Nirmal Noah was the 2nd on the runners' list and he pulled the team back in the race taking them to 6th before handing over the baton to Arokya Rajiv. Rajiv did an excellent pull and overtook the French team pushing India to 5th and handed over the baton to Amoj Jacob. Amoj had a huge task in his hands but he missed out on the big qualification by a whisker. He overtook the Japanese and pushed Indian rankings to 4th but they fell short and agonisingly miss out on the finals.

Final teams to qualify:

Top 3 from Heat 1:
1. USA 2:57:77
2. Botswana 2:58:33
3. Trinidad and Tobago 2:58:60

Top 3 from Heat 2:
1. Poland 2:58:55
2. Jamaica 2:59:29
3. Belgium 2:59:37

Two best timings outside the Top 3:
1. Italy 2:58:91
2. Netherlands 2:59:06

India better the National Record and set a new Asian Record - 3:00.25.

They miss out on qualification by just over a second!

India finish fourth at a speed of 3:00:25.

India push up to 4th! Can we close in on Jamaica??!

Belgium, Jamaica and Poland finish as the Top 3 teams.

Final round !

Colombia and Jamaica racing their way hard in 3rd round as Belgium and Poland lead! India overtakes Japan in 5th position.

Belgium overtakes South Africa at 2nd!

Poland and South Africa are on top after completion of the first 400m!

Ready, set, GO! Heat 2 is underway!

We're moments away from the race!

Yahia Mohammed Anas will be starting the relay for India from track 2. He will be followed by Noah Nirmal, Arokia Rajiv and Amoj Jacob respectively.

The relay teams have entered the track for Heat 2.

Heat 1 was a quick race and India will need to finish in the Top 3 OR better the National Record to meet the minimum indirect qualification time - 2:59.06, clocked by 5th place finishers Netherlands.!

Botswana (2:58.33 African Record (AR)) and Trinidad and Tobago (2:58.60 (NR)) to take the other two direct qualification spots. Italy (2:58.91 (NR)) and Netherlands (2:59.06 (NR)) in the mix with National Records to their names!

It is USA, who unsurprisingly take the Heat 1 - 2:57.77 Season's Best (SB)

USA now leading now as Botswana and Trinidad looking to lock the other Q spots after the last changeover!

Great Britain out of the mix as they have troubles with the baton exchange.

Italy and Trinidad in hot pursuit, as is Netherlands!

USA and Botswana lead after the second baton change.

USA overtakes Germany from the Lane 7.

Botswana off to a strong start as they open their best runner.

The first Heat is about to begin as the athletes are being introduced on their respective lanes. Race is underway!

Heat 1 - featuring World Record holders and defending champions USA - will be beginning is just about 5 minutes!

Teams that will be running in Heat 2 of the 4X400m men's relay alongside India include strong medal contenders Jamaica and Belgium, the in-form Polish team as well as the home-favorites in the form of Japan. Here is the lane-wise lineup for the all-important Heat 2:

India - Lane 2

Colombia - Lane 3
Jamaica - Lane 4
France - Lane 5
Belgium - Lane 6
Japan - Lane 7
Poland - Lane 8
South Africa - Lane 9

🇮🇳 Men's 4X400 Relay Team is ready for Round 1 at #Tokyo2020

Let's encourage them with our #Cheer4India messages. #Olympics #Athletics pic.twitter.com/jQ0UsDtVAU
— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) August 6, 2021

The Indian line-up for the big race is finally out:

Mohammad Anas
Noah Nirmal Tom
Rajiv Arokia
Amoj Jacob

Both Mohammad Anas and Rajeev Arokia are experienced campaigners and were a part of the team at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The team had to face heartbreak as they were disqualified in their Heat and could not qualify for the final. They will be hopeful of a better showing at the Games this time around.

Anas and Arokia were are also part of the squad that set the National Record of 3:00.91 at the 2003 Indian Grand Prix in Bangalore.

Records:
Olympic record: 2:55.39 United States of America, set in Beijing on August 23, 2008
World record: 2:54.29 United States of America, set in Stuttgart on August 22, 1993

India's national record: 3:00.91 Kunhu Muhammed, Muhammed Anas, Ayyasamy Dharun and Arokia Rajiv, set in Bangalore on July 10, 2016

Next event of #Ind in #Athletics

👉🏻4x400m men's relay team will run at 5:07pm (India Time) in Round-1 Heat 2

First 3 in each heat (Q) & the next fastest 2 (q) will advance to Final.

Heat 2 teams (LANE 2 to 9)#IND #COL #JAM #FRA #BEL #JPN #POL #RSA

Live on @SonySportsIndia pic.twitter.com/Kn9IaeGIpe
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) August 6, 2021

Path to the medal in 4x400m relay:
The event takes place in two stages. Participating nations are divided into two pools, who each compete in separate heats.

The top 3 sides from each heat qualify directly for the final, which will be held tomorrow.

The last two spots in the finals are filled with the next two fastest finishing teams.

The 4x400m relay is one of the marquee events of the Olympic Games and the excitement levels often soar in the lead-up. The Tokyo Games are no exception and we should be expecting an absolutely intense race!

Hello and welcome back to our continued coverage of Day 12 action from the Olympics 2021. India has faced a few heartbreaks today as Gold medal hopeful Bajrang Punia crashed out in semi final rounds, while earlier in the day, the women's hockey team went down fighting against Great Indian in the bronze medal match. Aditi Ashok has given India hope as she continues to stay on medal contention in the Golf event.

We, however, will shift our attention to the track and field events as India's 4x400m men's relay team will be in action in the heats later today. The team - which constitutes Amoj Jacob, Naganathan Pandi, Arokia Rajiv, Muhammed Anas Yahiya & Noah Nirmal Tom - have been drawn in Heat 2 and are scheduled to run the race at about 5.07pm IST.

The likes of Kamalpreet Kaur and Neeraj Chopra have given Indian plenty to cheer for in the athletics events, and we are hopeful that the really can also deliver a big win today! We will take you through the proceedings as they come our way in around 40 minutes from now!

Olympics 2021: Indian men's 4x400m relay team miss out on finals spot, finish 9th with new National and Asian Records

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