During the final day of the National Inter-State Championships on Sunday, the Indian mixed 4x400m relay team set a new national record but still missed their Paris Olympics qualification target by just one second. To make the race officially 'international' for ranking purposes, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) invited competitors from the Maldives and Sri Lanka. India fielded two separate teams, A and B, specifically to try and climb the global rankings.
The Indian mixed 4x400m relay team failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics despite setting a national record, missing the target mark by exactly one second on the last day of the National Inter-State Championships here on Sunday. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) invited Sri Lanka and the Maldives to compete in the mixed 400m relay event, and India entered with two teams, A and B so that the timings could be used for global ranking purposes. Three national teams must participate to make an event an international one.
The target for the Indian squad was 3:11.87, a time that would have put them ahead of Kenya's 3:11.88 and secured the 16th and final Olympic slot. The team, featuring Muhammed Ajmal, Muhammed Anas, Kiran Pahal, and Jyothika Sri Dandi, ultimately won the race in 3:12.87. Although they missed the Olympics, they beat the previous national record of 3:14.12 established in Bangkok during the Asian Relay in May. Interestingly, Kiran Pahal made the team despite not being part of the national camp, earning his spot through a dominant individual 400m run that broke the 50.95-second Olympic qualifying barrier.
Usually, the AFI strictly picks relay athletes from those attending the national camp. The 'B' team, composed of Subha Venkatesan, Amoj Jacob, Vithya Ramraj, and T Santosh, took second place with a time of 3:14.22. Sri Lanka followed in third at 3:18.18, while the Maldives finished last with a time of 3:44.98.
The AFI will likely find the mixed 4x400m relay's failure to qualify for Paris a bitter pill to swallow, especially since both the standalone men's and women's 4x400m teams have already secured their spots. In other news, Olympic-bound Kishore Jena took third place in the men's javelin. The event was won by Sahil Silwal of Haryana with a throw of 81.81m, followed by Odisha's Vikrant Malik in second at 81.74m, with Jena claiming bronze after a throw of 80.84m in the second round.
For Jena, an Asian Games silver medalist with a career-best of 87.54m, hitting the 80-meter mark was a huge confidence boost after a disappointing 75.49m showing at the May Federation Cup. He revealed that he had been struggling with ankle pain in his left blocking leg following that event. Although a doctor told him it wasn't serious, he spent time on physiotherapy, recovery exercises, and a reduced training load. Jena noted that while the pain has mostly vanished, he still didn't push himself to his absolute limit during today's competition.