India had a decent start in the race, but lost momentum midway which is certainly disappointing for fans back home.
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It was a disappointing outing for India’s mixed relay track team on Friday. The four athletes representing the country in the event were Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan, and Arokia Rajiv. It is the first time that an Indian team has participated in the 4x400m relay event at the Olympics. The team finished last in the 4x400m mixed relay heat. India had a decent start in the race but lost momentum midway. By the time the third and fourth participants of the relay came into the fray, the team was already behind and by some distance. They have been eliminated from the event as only the top three from each heat, and the two fastest of the overall remaining teams will make it through to the final.
India started the race from lane 3 with Yahiya. The sprinter gave India a good start as he managed to get past a couple of runners right at the off. However, the passing of the baton from Yahiya to Revathi did not look clean, and ultimately, she fell behind the rest of the pack. It was always going to be difficult for Revathi to catch up to her opponents from a position like that.
By the time Revathi managed to get the baton to Subha, the others had already had a pretty strong head start. Subha did her best to close the gap but it was never going to be enough. She did quite well but India was in the last place by the time she got the baton to Rajiv.
As soon as Rajiv got the baton, he started sprinting with the hopes of at least preventing them from finishing in the last place. His strides looked strong and he did gain some ground on the ones ahead of him. However, the gap was far too wide by this point. It would have taken an absolute miracle for India to have finished anywhere but the last spot. The top three in the race were already celebrating their qualification by the time Rajiv reached the finish line.
The Netherlands had a very strong start to the race, as they were in the lead until the baton was handed over to the third runner. From that point, it was completely Poland’s race. The Polish athletes displayed incredible speed and stamina first to get themselves into first place, and then holding on to end until the very end. The Dutch did give a strong fight in the final lap of the race, but it was Poland that crossed the finish line first followed by Holland.
The third country that has qualified to the final from this heat is Jamaica. The Caribbean nation did not have a good start to the race by any stretch. In fact, India’s Yahiya was close to the first Jamaican runner at the beginning of the race. The Jamaicans got their rhythm right at the closing moments of the race, when Karayme Bartley moved ahead of Great Britain’s Lee Thompson to secure third place, and guarantee a place in the finals.
Going by the performances in this particular heat, Poland definitely looks like one of the favourites to win a gold medal in this edition of the Olympics. However, one must not discount the Netherlands either. If they get as good a start in the final as they did in the heat, they might just be able to hold on to it this time and win the gold medal. It will be interesting to see the nation which reigns supreme in the event in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
