The Indian 4x400m men’s team ran a lightening fast 2-minute 59.05 seconds race to qualify for the finals of the World Championships for the first time in history and rewrote the Asian record of 2:59.51secomds held by Japan, on Saturday. The Indian quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh finished second in heat number one behind the US (2:58.47) to make it to the final to be held later in the night on Sunday.
The top three finishers in each of the two heats and the next two fastest qualified for the final. The earlier Asian record of 2:59.51 was in the name of the Japanese team. The earlier national record was 3:00.25 set in 2021.The Indians gave the world record holders Americans a run for their money, finishing closely behind them. India eventually finished second overall also after the two heats, behind the US, but ahead of strong teams like Great Britain (3rd; 2:59.42) and Jamaica (5th; 2:59.82). Rajesh Ramesh, who worked as a ticket collector at Trichy in 2018, ran the anchor leg and almost overtook his American counterpart. He was nudged physically by the US runner who didn’t want to budge. Mohammed Anas, the 400m national record holder, gave India a good start as the rest of the runners kept the tempo up. Amoj Jacob, who has been plagued with injuries since the 2018 Commonwealth Games, would be a relieved man. As Amoj and the rest took to the field in Budapest his family was fervently praying for the race to go well.
Amoj’s mother Mary Kutty, the head nurse at the Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, was naturally ecstatic to see her son on the world stage. Mary was so happy that she was at a loss for words. “What can I even say? It feels amazing to see my son do so well. He has a tough time. You should talk to his Dad, he speaks well,” Amoj’s mother said.
Ramesh, who ran the anchor leg, was the standout performer. It’s hard to fathom that in 2018 he almost quit sports entirely and worked as a ticket collector in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. The Federation Cup at Ranchi in May this year was his comeback event where he showed his mettle beating seasoned runners for the title.
Earlier, talking about Ramesh, his coach Raj Mohana MK had said, “He has great potential and I can tell you that he is among the handful who we expect to run below 45 seconds by the end of this year. He has a smooth-running technique that almost looks effortless. He also has a great presence of mind and has learnt the art of pacing his race.”