NEW DELHI : India named a 15-member relay team for the upcoming World Athletics Relays 2024 event and will compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics qualifiers.
The World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 which is a qualifying tournament for the upcoming Paris Olympics will be played for two days – May 4 and 5.
The top two teams in each heat on the opening day will advance to the final which will be held on day two. Those teams will also secure Paris 2024 Olympic quotas in the process.
The Olympic lane seeding positions will be decided in the finals which will be held on day two and the teams in the finals will also compete for medals.
All other teams will compete on day two in the additional round where the top two teams in each heat will also qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In the event, a total of 32 teams will compete in the men’s 4x400m relay while 27 teams will feature in the women’s 4x400m. While 30 teams will represent their countries in the mixed 4x400m relay.
Athletes will represent India in all three races. For the men’s 4x400m relay, India named an eight-member team.
Amoj Jacob, Muhammad Anas Yahiya, Muhammad Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh, who won the Asian Games gold medal in men’s 4x400m relay at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, have been included.
The team also features the 2018 Asian Games mixed relay gold medallist Arokia Rajiv, Noah Nirmal Tom, Yashas Palaksha and Avinash Krishna Kumar.
A seven-member team has been named for the women’s 4x400m relay. The women’s team will be led by multiple Asian Games gold medallist MR Poovamma, the squad includes the Hangzhou Asian Games silver-medal winning team of Vithya Ramraj, Aishwarya Mishra, Prachi and Subha Venkatesan. Jyothika Sri Dandi and Rupal are the other two members of the team.
In the mixed 4x400m relay, India have chosen Vithya Ramraj and Rajesh Ramesh, who were part of the silver medal-winning Asian Games 2023 team. Jyothika Sri Dandi, Amoj Jacob, Rupal and Yashas also find themselves in the mixed 4x400m Indian team.
Indian athletes at the World Athletics Relays 2024:
Men’s 4x400m: Amoj Jacob, Avinash Krishna Kumar, Rajiv Arokia, Rajesh Ramesh, Noah Nirmal Tom, Muhammad Ajmal, Muhammad Anas, Yashas
Women’s 4x400m: Jyothika Sri Dandi, MR Poovamma, Aishwarya Mishra, Prachi, Vithya Ramraj, Rupal, Subha Venkatesan
Mixed 4x400m: Jyothika Sri Dandi, Vithya Ramraj, Rupal, Amoj Jacob, Rajesh Ramesh, Yashas. (ANI)