Indian teams stay on track for World Athletics Relays

The Indian teams took a major step in their efforts to qualify for the World Athletics Relays as the International Invitational Relay Competition saw thrilling action here today. The World Athletics Relays will be held on May 2-3 in Gaborone, Botswana. However, it was heartbreak for the men’s 4x100m relay team as it was disqualified in the heats.

Manu TS, Amoj Jacob, D Chaudhary and Rajesh Ramesh were the members of the 4x400m relay team that won gold with a time of 3 minutes, 1.43 seconds to better its global ranking. On the other hand, the National B mixed 4x100m relay team won gold with a time of 42.30 seconds to better the national record of 43.44 seconds set by Tamil Nadu in 2025. India A finished second with a time of 42.34 seconds. Maldives finished third with a time of 44.53 seconds. “The Athletics Federation of India fielded two teams in the mixed 4x100m relay, and members of both teams did exceedingly well,” said chief athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair.

India’s international sprinter and national record holder Animesh Kujur was disappointed for missing a golden chance to board the flight to Botswana. “The competition in Chandigarh was the last chance for the men’s 4x100m relay squad to improve their world ranking before the deadline of April 5, but we missed,” Kujur said.

The mixed 4x400m and women’s 4x100m relay teams are also strong contenders to win tickets to the World Athletics Relays. The women’s 4x100m team, which clocked 43.86 seconds at the 2025 Gumi Asian Athletics Championships, currently holds the world ranking is 23. The 4x400m mixed team’s current world ranking of 22 is based on the 3:14.81 performance at the 2025 World Relays in China. “World Athletics will declare the final rankings of the nations eligible to compete in Botswana after April 5,” the chief coach said.