The Indian men's 4x400 relay team has achieved a historic milestone by qualifying for the World Athletics Championship final for the first time. The team's remarkable performance also resulted in setting a new Asian record with a time of 2.59.05 seconds during the semi-final heats. This accomplishment was secured by finishing second behind the USA in the first heat. Chairman of Mahindra group, Anand Mahindra shared the news of the Indian team's victory in a tweet by writing, “What? When? Where? An Indian men's 4x400 relay team qualifying for the finals in the World Athletics Championship? Looks like everyone is shooting for the moon now… Look at them run…Our Cheetahs….”
Check out his tweet below:
Making history on the global stage, the Indian men's 4x400 relay squad, consisting of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi, and Rajesh Ramesh, broke the existing Asian record of 2:59.51 previously set by a Japanese team.
In the beginning, India was in sixth place with Muhammed Anas running the first leg. But in the second leg, Amoj Jacob's amazing run moved India up to second place. Muhammed Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh did a good job in the last two legs to keep up the pace and help India reach the final.
The USA team finished first with a time of 2:58.47s seconds. Great Britain took the final qualifying spot in heat-1 with a time of 2:59.42s. The Indian team was also the second-fastest across both the heats.
The teams from the USA, India, Great Britain & Northern Ireland, Botswana, Jamaica, France, Italy, and the Netherlands have all qualified for the World Athletics Championship final.