The Indian men’s 4x400m relay team clocked a season-best time of 3:00.58, finishing fourth in their heat at the Paris 2024 Olympics, narrowly missing out on a spot in the final.
The Indian quartet of Muhammed Anas, Rajesh Ramesh, Amoj Jacob, and Muhammed Ajmal fell just 0.32 seconds short of the qualifying time of 3:00.26 set by Italy. They were competing in the second heat against strong teams like Belgium, France and Nigeria.
Italy claimed the third spot in the second heat with a time of 3:00.26, edging out India by 0.32 seconds. Germany, who finished just ahead of India in the overall rankings, were 0.03 seconds slower than Italy.
The Indian relay team had previously set a national and Asian record of 2:59.05 at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last year, and repeating that performance would have secured them a spot in the final.
France won the second heat with a time of 2:59.53, and Nigeria initially placed second with 2:59.81 but were later disqualified, allowing South Africa to advance to the final. Belgium finished second overall with a time of 2:59.84, while Botswana topped the heats with a time of 2:57.76.
Muhammed Ajmal, running the second leg, recorded the best individual split among the Indian runners at 44.55 seconds.
With these results, India’s athletics campaign at the Paris 2024 Olympics concluded.
