Why did the Indian Mixed 4x400 relay team not compete at the World Athletics Relays 2024?

The Indian contingent did not field its mixed 4x400 relay team in the World Athletics Relays 24 in Nassau, Bahamas. It was because one of their members, Rajesh Ramesh sustained a muscle cramp and was seen limping.

In the first round, the Indian mixed relay team finished sixth in their heat and 25th overall, thereby failing to qualify directly for the Paris Olympics 2024.

The quartet of Rajesh Ramesh, Rupal Chaudhary, Avinash Krishna Kumar, and Jyothika Sri Dandi clocked a timing of 3:20.36s in Heat 2 on Saturday. Meanwhile, the USA and Nigeria earned direct qualification after recording timings of 3:11.52s and 3:13.79s, respectively.

The Mixed 4x400 relay had an additional qualifying round to stake a claim for the big ticket event on Sunday. However, the major injury to Ramesh forced the mixed team to skip the qualification round.

Here's the clip of Ramesh pulling out of the Men's 4x400 relay event due to injury:

A total of 70 teams - 14 teams from each discipline qualified for the Paris Olympics after a thrilling two-day action.

The remaining two teams from each discipline will be selected based on the World Athletics performance list for relays during the period between December 31, 2022, and June 30, 2024.

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Arokia Rajiv replaced Rajesh Ramesh and helped the Men's 4x400 relay team qualify for the Paris Olympics

After Rajesh Ramesh pulled out of the race, the Men's 4x400 relay team could not finish the race on Saturday.

However, in an additional qualifying round on Sunday, Arokia Rajiv took Ramesh's place. He formed a quartet with Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Muhammed Ajmal, Arokia Rajiv, and Amoj Jacob. Rajiv ran the third leg after Anas and Ajmal, as they recorded a cumulative timing of 3:03.23 to finish second in their Heat, behind USA's timing of 2:59.95.

Being the top-two team from the Heat, the men's team earned a ticket to the Paris Olympics.