Redemption, fulfilment of a father’s dream, a big step in a nascent career and justification of choices made early in life — Olympic qualification meant different things to the different members of the 4x400m Indian men’s and women’s relay teams who booked their Paris berths on Monday. Let’s take a look on the eight runners — four men and four women — who finished second in their respective qualifying heats at the World Athletics Relay in Nassau, Bahamas to make the Olympic cut.
THE WOMEN’S TEAM:
MR Poovamma: For Olympian Poovamma, it’s a redemption of sorts after she faced the ignominy of a two-year ban for a doping offence in 2021 before getting a favourable decision after the intervention of Kerala High Court.
The 33-year-old, a multiple medallist in the individual 400m and 4x400m relay race in the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games, returned to action during the Goa National Games last year after serving a two-year ban.
“Finally, I can return to action now. The ordeal is over, though it left me mentally distressed,” she had told PTI then.
The Arjuna Awardee is one of the most decorated athletes in the country, having won a women’s 4x400m relay gold and 400m individual silver in the 2013 Asian Championships.
She went on to win a gold and a bronze in the women’s 4x400m relay and 400m individual event. The Karanataka-born, who married another international athlete from Kerala, also won a gold each in the women’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m relay races in the 2018 Asian Games.
Rupal Chaudhary: She scripted history by becoming the first Indian athlete to win two medals — silver in women’s 4x400m relay and bronze in the individual 400m — at the World U20 Athletics Championship in 2022 in Colombia.
The 19-year-old hails from a family of modest means. Her father is a small farmer in Shahpur Jainpur village in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district.
As the closest stadium to her base — Meerut — does not have suitable synthetic tracks for training, she would endure a two-hour journey to Delhi for two days ever week to train.
She became the second Indian to win a medal in the women’s 400m after Hima Das’ historic gold in the 2018 edition of the championships in Finland.
Jyothika Dandi Sri: Hyderabad-based Jyothika, who ran the second leg on Monday, took to sports to fulfil the dreams of her father who wanted his daughter to feature in the Olympics.
The 23-year-old is quite close to it, though the final selection of the relay team rests in the hands of the Athletics Federation of India.
She was part of the Indian women’s 4x400m team that won a bronze in the Asian Championships last year. She won a 400m gold in the National Open Championships in and a silver in Goa National Games last year.
Subha Venkatesan: The 24-year-old from Trichy in Tamil Nadu is the daughter of a construction worker and a homemaker and she took to sports on the insistence of her maternal grandfather who works in the police department.
Trained initially at the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu’s (SDAT) Centre of Chennai, Subha went on to win medals in national meets before she became part of the women’s 4x400m relay team that won a silver in the 2018 Asian Junior Championships.
THE MEN’S TEAM
Muhammed Anas: The 29-year-old Anas is the most well-known men’s quarter-miler in the country and the national record holder. Already a two-time Olympian, Anas has won medals at the Asian Games, Asian Championships and 2016 he became is only the third Indian quarter-miler (individual 400m) to participate at the Olympics after KM Binu and Milkha Singh. He was a part of the Indian men’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m relays in Tokyo Olympics.
He was also part of the men’s 4x400m team that broke the Asian record in the World Championships last year and won the gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Anas hails from Nilamel village in Kerala and his father Yahiya was a state-level athlete. Anas has often stated that he became interested in running after seeing Jamaican legend Usain Bolt dashing down the track in the 2008 Olympics.
He was a long jump champion at his school, but shifted to track on the advice of coaches.
At the 2016 senior nationals, Anas clinched the 400m silver in his first attempt and broke the 46-second barrier at the Indian Grand Prix and Federation Cups that year for the first time.
Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi: Born in Palakkad, Kerala, Muhammed Ajmal was a football player just like many youngsters in his state. He participated at the U-19 state level football tournaments until his coach recommended a shift to running. He was a 100m sprinter first and then began competing in 400m.
Amoj Jacob: Born in Kerala but brought up in New Delhi, Jacob’s sporting journey began during his time at St. Xavier’s School in Rohini, when his coach suggested that he try becoming a sprinter. The 25-year-old was initially interested in football. His mother is a nurse at a Delhi hospital.
He was part of the gold winning 4x400m relay team at the 2017 Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar, besides winning the Hangzhou Asian Games gold in the same event.
Arokia Rajiv: Hailing from a village near Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, athletics runs in Arokia’s blood as his father Y Soundararajan was a state level sprinter and long jumper. Arokia’s father Soundararajan was a bus driver while his mother a daily wager.
The 32-year-old Armyman was part of the gold-winning 4x400m mixed relay team and he settled for a silver medal in the men’s 4x400m relay at the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta. He was part of the Tokyo Olympics 4x400m relay team that broke the then Asian record.
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