The Indian men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams qualified for the Paris Olympics after finishing second in their respective second-round heat at the World Athletics Relays here on Monday.
In the women’s competition, the quartet of Rupal Chaudhary, M R Poovamma, Jyothika Sri Dandi and Subha Venkatesan clocked 3 minutes and 29.35 seconds to finish second behind Jamaica (3:28.54) in heat number one to book a Paris Games ticket.
Later, the men’s squad of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Muhammed Ajmal, Arokia Rajiv and Amoj Jacob finished with a collective timing of 3 minutes and 3.23 seconds to also finish second in their heat, behind USA (2:59.95). The top two teams in each of the three heats in the second round were to qualify for the Olympics to be held from July 26 to August 11. The Indian women’s team had finished fifth in the first-round qualifying heat on Sunday with a time of 3 minutes and 29.74 seconds.
The men’s team had failed to finish in the first-round qualifying heat after second leg runner Rajesh Ramesh pulled out midway due to cramps. With this, India now have 19 Paris-bound track and field athletes and the list includes defending javelin throw champion Neeraj Chopra amongst others. The athletics events at the Games will begin on August 1.