Chandigarh, March 29: National record holder Animesh Kujur missed a significant opportunity to compete in the World Athletics Relay in Botswana. This disappointment came after the ‘Road to Gaborone 26’ event held at the Sector 7 Sports Complex in Chandigarh on Saturday.
The men’s 4×100 meter relay team faced heartbreak as they were disqualified in the heats of both the first international invitational relay and the third national open relay competition.
Members of the 4×400 meter relay team, including Manu T.S., Amol Jacob, D. Chaudhary, and Rajesh Ramesh, secured a gold medal with a time of 3:01.43 seconds, improving their global ranking.
The national ‘B’ mixed 4×100 meter relay team also clinched gold, breaking the previous national record of 43.44 seconds set by Tamil Nadu in 2025, finishing with a time of 42.30 seconds. India ‘A’ finished second at 42.34 seconds, while the Maldives took third place with a time of 44.53 seconds.
Despite the success of the relay teams, Kujur expressed his disappointment at missing the chance to compete in Botswana. He stated, “This competition in Chandigarh was our last opportunity to improve our global ranking before the April 5 deadline, but we missed it.”
The national mixed 4×400 meter relay and women’s 4×100 meter relay teams are strong contenders for the World Athletics Relay scheduled for May 2 and 3 in Gaborone, Botswana. The national women’s 4×100 meter relay team recorded a time of 43.86 seconds at the 2025 Gumi Asian Athletics Championships, currently holding a world ranking of 23.
The national 4×400 meter mixed relay team holds a world ranking of 22, based on their performance of 3:14.81 at the World Relay held in China.
Chief athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair noted that the Athletics Federation of India fielded two teams in the mixed 4×100 meter relay, both of which performed admirably.
Nair added, “World Athletics will announce the final rankings of eligible countries for competition in Botswana after April 5, 2026.”
The World Athletics Relay will take place on May 2 and 3 in Gaborone, Botswana.
Arpit Soni has had a passion for journalism since the beginning. Now he has turned this hobby into his profession. Arpit, who is a resident of Udaipur, enjoys editing and writing news related to journalism. He has worked as a Senior Content Producer in several important roles at Bhaskar, Patrika, Pratahkal, Punjab Kesari, and Times. Arpit completed his schooling in Udaipur and Jaipur. He has been working in the media industry for more than 10 years, and his journey is still continuing. ✍️📚
Leave a Comment