Chandigarh, March 27: The inaugural International Invitation Relay Competition will take place in Chandigarh on Saturday, featuring the country’s top athletes. These athletes are preparing to qualify for the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana.
The event, scheduled for March 28 at the Sector 7 Sports Complex, will serve as the final opportunity for national relay teams to qualify for the Global Relays, set to occur on May 2 and 3 in Africa.
Head athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair expressed optimism, stating, “We expect the members of the national relay teams to perform at their best and remain on track for a spot at the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone.”
Countries such as Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Nepal will also participate in this invitational relay competition.
The Athletics Federation of India announced on Friday that the competition in Botswana will feature six relay events: 4×100 meters (men and women), 4×400 meters (men and women), and mixed relays (4×100 meters and 4×400 meters).
Only teams ranked in the top 24 globally on the ‘Road to Gaborone’ will be eligible to compete in Botswana.
Animesh Kujur, the country’s top male sprinter and national record holder in the 100 meters and 200 meters, emphasized the need for peak performance: “We must deliver our best.”
Based on their performance of 38.75 seconds in the national men’s 4×100 meters relay in Taipei on June 7 last year, the current global ranking stands at 25.
The head coach further noted, “A performance of 38.50 seconds will be sufficient to qualify for the World Relays. The national women’s 4×100 meters relay team is in the qualification zone, with a current world ranking of 23, based on a time of 43.86 seconds at the 2025 Gumi Asian Athletics Championships.”
The national 4×400 meters mixed relay team is also on track to compete in Botswana due to its 22nd global ranking. The national team recorded a time of 3:14.81 last year in Guangzhou, China.
Olympians Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal T.K., who hold the national record for the men’s 400 meters (45.12 seconds), will be crucial members of the national 4×400 meters relay team on Saturday.
World Athletics will announce the top 24 teams after April 5.
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PK
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