KOCHI, MAY 15,
For a couple of years now, the Athletics Federation of India has been harping that the 4x400m relay teams are capable of winning medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
And its president Adille Sumariwalla has frequently argued that the quartermilers are being sent for long training trips abroad, on Government expense, for this reason.
But the World Relays, which ended in Yokohama on Sunday, showed how tough the road to Olympic medals could be. One had expected the 4x400m and mixed relay teams to at least reach the finals and book the berths for this September’s Doha World championships. And Doha, with eight automatic Olympic berths on offer, is crucial for Tokyo.
But there were just a series of shocks with the teams failing to reach the finals and returning with their confidence in tatters.
The quartermilers, who had a 79-day training trip in Turkey under American coach Galina Bukharina, had very little to show, finishing 17th overall in the men’s and women’s relays and 15th in mixed. That should set alarm bells ringing!
The top 10 men’s and women’s teams (and 12 in mixed) at Yokohama gained automatic Worlds berths. Now there could an anxious wait as the other six men’s and women’s berths (four in mixed) will be decided through a ranking system of performances up to September 6.
The Indian women had won the 4x400m gold while the men’s and mixed teams took silver — behind Qatar and Bahrain respectively — at the Jakarta Asian Games just eight months ago.
The women had clocked 3:28.72s in Jakarta but in Yokohama, the same combination of Hima Das, Poovamma, Saritaben and Vismaya was more than three seconds slower (3:31.93s)! Similarly, the men were over four seconds slower (Asiad 3:01.85s, World Relays 3:06.05s).
With its top runners exhausted or injured, India fielded a weak combination of Jithu Baby, Sonia Baishya, Prachi and Antony Alex in the mixed relay and finished with 3:23.59s, almost eight seconds slower than Jakarta (3:15.71s).
A repeat of the Asiad timing would have seen India win the World Relays mixed gold and finish within the top six in the men’s and women’s relays.
It must be said that the team missed the injured Arokia Rajiv, India’s fastest quartermiler this season, and A. Dharun.
Hima Das no longer appears to be the vibrant record-breaking runner that she was in Jakarta. If the team is forcing her to run despite carrying an injury, then it is a big worry.
The quartermilers are now travelling to Poland for another long camp. Clearly, there is a need to rework strategies.
