New Delhi
On a pleasant evening in Budapest, Hungary, last Sunday, India created history as the quartet of Muhammed Anas, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh finished a credible fifth in the 4x400m relay race final at the World Athletics Championships, clocking 2:59.92 seconds. It was the first time in the history of the championships that India made it to the final of the event, which was eventually won by the US (2:57:31), while France (2:58:45) and Great Britain (2:58:71) finished second and third, respectively. A day before, the Indian quartet had set an Asian record by clocking 2:59.05 to finish second only behind the US and sprint into the final. A cramp-stricken Ramesh, who had to be carried on a stretcher after the race, was brilliant in the anchor leg, almost matching his US counterpart step by step. Buoyed by the impressive show at the Worlds, the Indian quartet will now eye a top podium finish at the Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China, starting September 23. In Budapest, the Indian racers shattered the national record (3:00:25) set in 2021 by Muhammed Anas, Noah Nirmal Tom, Arokia Rajiv and Amoj Jacob at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics twice. The career of Ramesh, who worked as a ticket collector at Trichy, Kerala, in 2018, was halted by a series of injuries after the 2018 U20 World Championships. In his comeback race in May this year, Rajesh displayed an impressive performance by dominating the 400m semifinals at the Federation Cup held in Ranchi, clocking an impressive 46.13 seconds, which helped the Tamil Nadu racer meet the Athletics Federation of India’s Asian Championships qualification standard of 46.17 seconds.
