It promises to be a long Sunday for fans of Indian athletics tracking the World Athletics Championships concluding in Budapest. Eight Indian athletes, including the men’s 4x400m relay quartet who stunned the world on Saturday night with a sensational Asian Record time to be the second fastest among the 17 teams on view, will feature in three finals.
However, it will be the affable yet tough Neeraj Chopra who can be expected to place India on the medal’s table again for only the third time in World Championships history dating back to 1983. DP Manu and Kishore Kumar Jena will have to perform beyond their known potential to be among the medals in a final that sees an unprecedented three Indians in the start list.
Neeraj Chopra seemed in good space and can be expected to not be sucked in by the build-up for the final as an Indo-Pakistan clash. He knows that while Arshad Nadeem has a better personal best than him, the final features as many as seven throwers who have exceeded the 89m mark in their careers. And, in a season that has not seen a 90m throw yet, six have passed the 86m.
In any case, the final is about shutting off the mind from all else to be able to focus on one’s own throws. He has mastered the game of understanding his own body and, while he is of a genial disposition, there is no mistaking that he is one of the most mentally tough contemporary Indian athletes across disciplines.
Though he likes to boss a competition with a solid opening throw, he also showed in Eugene last year that he could hold his nerves under pressure and deliver a medal-winning throw. He has added layers of maturity to his approach in each competition, constantly making people aware that it is not about joining the 90m Club but doing enough to win medals.
He will welcome the presence of the men’s 4x400m Relay team, which rode on blistering runs by Amoj Jacob on the tough second leg and Rajesh Ramesh on the final leg, to produce an Asian record time of 2:59.05 to be the second fastest of the 17 teams aspiring to seal one of the eight spots in the final. Sadly, the officials splits were not available to see who had the fastest lap.
Few, except the Athletics Federation of India officials, would have expected such a stunning show in the National Athletic Centre on Saturday. For, the team seemed on a downward spiral for a while now. It had a 3:07.29 finish in Eugene last year and the cup of misery brimmed over when it was beaten to second place by Sri Lanka in Asian Championships in Bangkok last month.
Amoj Jacob rocketed past the Spanish and Botswana runners to put India in second place as he got on to the back straight. However, he brought many an Indian heart to the mouth by seeming to impede Spain’s third runner after he handed the baton to Muhammed Ajmal. Unaware of the drama behind him, Ajmal ran spiritedly and bridged the gap toward the end of his leg.
Rajesh Ramesh nearly brought the house down when he challenged USA’s Justin Robinson and possibly gained a slight edge as well. It was unthinkable that an Indian team would match strides with the United States of America in a 1600m Relay, even if the Americans were without the 400m bronze medallist Quincy Hall and fourth places Vernon Norwood.
India’s 4x400m men’s relay team storm into the final after smashing the Asian record. Their qualifying time was second only to the USA, and faster than the fancied teams from Great Britain and Jamaica.
Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal, and Rajesh Ramachandran… pic.twitter.com/rAK5MlETla
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Justin Robinson thought he could conserve energy for the final but he was in for a surprise on the back straight. “I was a little surprised to see anybody come up on me. Trevor gave us an amazing lead. The next two guys, they held it and extended it. So I was surprised to see anybody there, let alone India,” he said, having shifted gear and moving ahead of Rajesh Ramesh.
It seemed that the jostling for space led to protests being filed by India against the United States of America and by Spain against India, but the Jury denied both appeals. It would appear that the protests were filed just to be sure that there would not be any talk by critics and fans alike. The Jury decided that none of the incidents merited a revision of standings, let alone disqualification.
The Indians were thrilled that a long-standing dream of theirs – a sub 3-minute race – came true on Saturday night. Muhammed Anas was delighted that at long last he was part of a sub-3-minute Relay while Muhammed Ajmal stayed rather quiet. A beaming Amoj Jacob said the team did not want a repeat of last year when it was devastated by a 3:07 race in Eugene.
The challenge for the Indians will be around rest and recovery to be able replicate the sensational form for the second night running. With Rajesh Ramachandran being taken away from the trackside in a wheelchair on Saturday night, his team-mates were hoping that it was only the result of lactic acid and that he would be back on track on Sunday night.
Parul Chaudhary, who ran a smart race a couple of days ago to earn herself a berth in the women’s 3000m Steeplechase final, has clearly said that she would try and get Olympic qualification here with a 9:23 race. She will have to run her own race – against the clock as it were – lest she expends too much energy in keeping pace with possibly a fast bunch of runners.
The Javelin Throw final begins on Sunday at 11-45 pm (IST) while the Steeplechase is scheduled for Monday 12-35 a.m. (IST) and the men’s 4x400m Relay at 1:07 a.m.
The results (finals, and Indians in qualifying):
Men
200m: 1. Noah Lyles (United States of America) 19.52 seconds; 2. Erriyon Knighton (United States of America) 19.75; 3. Letsile Tebogo (Botswana) 19.81.
800m: 1. Marco Arop (Canada) 1:44.24; 2. Emmanuel Wanyoni (Kenya) 1:44.53; 3. Ben Pattison (Great Britain) 1:44.83.
Pole Vault: 1. Armand Duplantis (Sweden) 6.10m; 2. Ernest John Obiena (Philippines) 6.00; 3. Kurtis Marschall (Australia) and Christopher Nilsen (United States of America) 5.95.
Decathlon: 1. Pierce Lepage (Canada) 8909 points (100: 10.45; LJ: 7.59; SP: 15.81; HJ: 2.08; 400: 47.21; 110H: 13.77; DT: 50.98; PV: 5.20; JT: 60.90; 1500: 4:39.88); 2. Damian Warner (Canada) 8804; 3. Lindon Victor (Grenada) 8756.
4x100m Relay: 1. United States of America (Christian Coleman, Fred Kerley, Brandon Carnes, Noah Lyles) 37.38; 2. Italy 37.62; 3. Jamaica 37.76.
4x400m Relay: 2. India (Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal, Rajesh Ramesh) 2:59.05 (New Asian & National Record. Old AR: 2:59.51, Japan, Eugene, 2022).
Women
200m: 1. Shericka Jackson (Jamaica) 21.41 seconds; 2. Gabrielle Thomas (United States of America) 21.81; 3. Sha’Carri Richardson (United States of America) 21.92.
5000m: 1. Faith Kipyegon (Kenya) 14:53.88; 2. Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) 14:54.11; 3. Beatrice Chebet (Kenya) 14;54.33.
Triple Jump: 1. Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela) 15.08m; 2. Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk (Ukraine) 15.00; 3. Leyanis Perer Hernandez (Cuba) 14.96.
Shot Put: 1. Chase Ealey (United States of America) 20.43m; 2. Sarah Mitton (Canada) 20.08; 3. Lijao Gong (China) 19.69.
Javelin Throw: 1. Haruka Kitaguchi (Japan) 66.73m; 2. Flor Denis Ruiz Hurtado (Colombia) 65.47; 3. Mackenzie Little (Australia) 63.38.
4x100m relay: 1. United States of America (Tamari Davis, Twanisha Terry, Gabrielle Thomas, Sha’Carri Richardson) 41.03 seconds (New Championships Record. Old: 41.07, Jamaica, Beijing, 2015); 2. Jamaica 41.21; 3. Great Britain & Norther Ireland 41.97.
Marathon: 1. Amane Beriso Shankule (Ethiopia) 2:24:23; 2. Gotytom Gebreslase (Ethiopia) 2:24:34; 3. Fatima Ezzahra Gardadi (Morocco) 2:25:17.