Asian Athletics Championships: India win 4x400m mixed relay gold

It was wet and windy but that did not stop Rupal Chaudhary from delivering two outstanding performances — ensuring the country’s defence of the 4x400m mixed relay title and winning an individual silver medal in the women’s 400m event — as the Indian contingent enjoyed a successful outing on Wednesday, the second day of the 26th Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea.After becoming the first Indian woman to secure a podium finish in the ongoing edition of the continental meet earlier in the day, Rupal partnered Santhosh Kumar, Vishal TK, and Subha Venkatesan to help India defend the mixed 4x400m relay crown.The team clocked 3:18.12s to finish ahead of China (3:20.52s) and Sri Lanka (3:21.95s). Later, in a surprising turn of events, both China and Sri Lanka were disqualified, resulting in Kazakhstan (3:22.70s) getting the silver and hosts South Korea (3:22.87s) the bronze.In the relay final, the determined Indian quartet — particularly Rupal and Vishal, who had already competed in individual events — displayed exceptional performance to win gold. Santhosh initiated the race smoothly before passing the baton to Rupal. Despite strong competition from her Chinese rival, Rupal extended the lead before handing over the baton to Vishal. Vishal maintained the advantage before transferring the baton to Subha.

In the concluding leg, Subha successfully maintained her position ahead of her Chinese competitor to secure a significant victory.Subha was also part of the Indian quartet that won gold in the same event at the 2023 Asian meet in Bangkok.“It was challenging to compete in back-to-back individual 400m and relay legs (4x400m mixed). But good preparation enabled me to handle the situation. The conditions were tough, and the strategy was to run a well-calculated race.

We are happy with our performance,” Vishal said in the post-race interaction.Earlier, Vishal clocked a personal best of 45.57s for a fourth-place finish in the men’s 400m race to emerge the fastest Indian male quarter-miler this season before lining up for the relay.Rupal won silver in the women’s individual event with a time of 52.68s and then dug deep into her reserves for the relay. She finished behind Japan’s Nanako Matsumoto (52.17s) and ahead of Uzbekistan’s Jonbibi Hukmova (52.79s).Vithya Ramraj, the other Indian in the fray, finished fifth with a timing of 53.00s.Tejaswin Settles for SilverTejaswin Shankar came agonisingly close to clinching gold in a gruelling two-day decathlon before settling for silver with a cumulative score of 7618 points over the 10 events.Fei Xiang of China (7634 points) took home the gold, while Japan’s Keisuke Okuda (7602) settled for bronze.In the previous edition of the continental meet, Tejaswin had won bronze in the same event.“My main goal was to secure a medal. I wasn’t focusing on enhancing my points tally. At the end of the day what matters is a medal at the continental level. I was able to achieve that,” he said reflecting on his performance.Indians Shine in Other EventsPooja ran an impressive race to clinch silver in the women’s 1500m event with a timing of 4:10.83s, registering the second-fastest time in Asia this year.Yoonus Shah won bronze in the men’s 1500m.Praveen Chithravel, national record holder in the men’s triple jump, secured silver with a best jump of 16.90m.“The weather was good at the start but then it started raining and it became challenging to keep the body warmed up,” Chithravel said.The women’s 10,000m race was halted halfway through due to heavy rain and has been rescheduled for Thursday morning.Long jumpers:Shaili Singh (best effort 6.17m)Ancy Sojan (best effort 6.14m)Both have qualified for the final of the women’s long jump.Key Results – Day Two🥇 4x400m mixed relay team wins gold🥈 Praveen Chithravel wins silver in men’s triple jump🥈 Tejaswin Shankar wins silver in decathlon🥈 Pooja grabs silver in women’s 1500m🥉 Yoonus Shah wins bronze in men’s 1500m🥈 Rupal Chaudhary gets silver in women’s 400m