Indian Women's 4x400m Team Withdraws From Next Month's World Relays In Poland

India women relay team: India's Olympic Games preparation is on temporary hold as the national women's 4x400 pulled out of next month’s IAAF World Relays Championship in Poland, said a source in the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Tuesday.

Star sprinters Hima Das and Dutee Chand, part of the 4×100m women’s relay race, could also miss the Olympic qualifying World Athletics Relays, scheduled to be held on May 1 and 2 in Chorzow, Poland.

As per reports, the Indian team's connecting flight to Amsterdam has been suspended following the surge in the country's COVID-19 caseload. Explaining the reason for withdrawing from the World Relays, a source told IANS, “The team is unfit. The fastest runner in the squad, Anjali Devi, is yet to recover from an injury she had sustained in March." The AFI, however, might send men’s 4x400m and women’s 4x100m relay squads to Poland.

The World Relays is a qualifying competition for Tokyo Olympics, as well as the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA. The six-member team included MR Poovamma, Subha Venkatesh, Anjali Devi, R Revathi, Kiran, Jisna Mathew, and VK Vismaya. The fastest timed runner Anjali Devi has been suffering from an injury she sustained in March this year. Jisna Mathew has also been forced to withdraw due to an injury.

During the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships, India’s mixed 4x400m relay team had qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

Spearheaded by Das and Chand, the 4×100m women’s relay team (comprising of S Dhanalakshmi, Archana Suseendran, Himashree Roy and AT Daneshwari) will be aiming to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics this year. The country has not qualified for the 4×100m women’s relay in the Olympics since Sydney 2000. Read how Hima Das and Dutee Chand eyeing Tokyo Olympics 2021 birth here.

To qualify directly for the 4×100m relay in the Tokyo Olympics, the Indian sprinters will have to aim for a top-eight finish in Poland. If not, then the team should mark a top-16 finish in the global rankings to earn the Tokyo ticket.

The celebrated runners were to board a KLM flight to Amsterdam on Thursday but the Dutch government has suspended flights from India effective Monday evening.

The top eight teams from the World Athletics Relays will automatically qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.