New Delhi: The Indian men’s 4x400m relay team created history on Saturday, August 26, 2023, by shattering the Asian record and qualifying for the final of the World Championships for the first time. The team of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi, and Rajesh Ramesh clocked an impressive time of 2 minutes 59.05 seconds to finish second in heat number one of the preliminary round. This was a massive improvement on the previous Asian record of 2 minutes 59.51 seconds, which was set by Japan in 2019.
The Indian team was in contention for a medal from the very beginning of the race. Anas got off to a good start and handed over the baton to Jacob in third place. Jacob maintained the position and handed over to Ajmal in second place. Ajmal made a strong surge in the final leg and managed to overtake the runner from Poland to finish in second place.
The Indian team’s performance was a major upset as they were not considered among the favorites for a medal. However, their determination and teamwork helped them to achieve a historic feat. The team’s coach, Galina Bukharina, was full of praise for her athletes, saying that they had worked hard for this moment and deserved all the credit.
The Indian team will now be looking to make their mark in the final of the World Championships, which will be held on Sunday, August 27. They will be up against some of the best teams in the world, but they will be confident of putting up a good performance. The team’s qualification for the final is a major achievement for Indian athletics and it will be exciting to see how they perform in the final.