Dreams fulfilled, redemption earned! A look at India's Olympic-bound relay teams

Redemption realization of a fathers aspirations a significant stride in burgeoning careers and validation of early life decisions the Paris Olympics qualification held varying significance for the diverse members of the Indian mens and womens 4x400m relay teams clinching their tickets to ParisBelow are insight into the eight athletes four men and four women who clinched second place in their respective qualifying heats at the World Athletics Relay in Nassau Bahamas thereby securing their passage to the Paris OlympicsMR PoovammaFor Olympian Poovamma its a redemption of sorts after she faced the ignominy of a twoyear ban for a doping offence in 2021 before getting a favourable decision after the intervention of Kerala High CourtThe 33yearold a multiple medallist in the individual 400m and 4x400m relay race in the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games returned to action during the Goa National Games last year after serving a twoyear banFinally I can return to action now The ordeal is over though it left me mentally distressed she had told PTI thenThe Arjuna Awardee is one of the most decorated athletes in the country having won a womens 4x400m relay gold and 400m individual silver in the 2013 Asian ChampionshipsShe went on to win a gold and a bronze in the womens 4x400m relay and 400m individual event The Karanatakaborn who married another international athlete from Kerala also won a gold each in the womens 4x400m and mixed 4x400m relay races in the 2018 Asian GamesRupal ChaudharyShe scripted history by becoming the first Indian athlete to win two medals silver in womens 4x400m relay and bronze in the individual 400m at the World U20 Athletics Championship in 2022 in ColombiaThe 19yearold hails from a family of modest means Her father is a small farmer in Shahpur Jainpur village in Uttar Pradeshs Meerut districtAs the closest stadium to her base Meerut does not have suitable synthetic tracks for training she would endure a twohour journey to Delhi for two days ever week to trainShe became the second Indian to win a medal in the womens 400m after Hima Das historic gold in the 2018 edition of the championships in FinlandJyothika Dandi SriHyderabadbased Jyothika who ran the second leg on Monday took to sports to fulfil the dreams of her father who wanted his daughter to feature in the OlympicsThe 23yearold is quite close to it though the final selection of the relay team rests in the hands of the Athletics Federation of IndiaShe was part of the Indian womens 4x400m team that won a bronze in the Asian Championships last year She won a 400m gold in the National Open Championships in and a silver in Goa National Games last yearSubha VenkatesanThe 24yearold from Trichy in Tamil Nadu is the daughter of a construction worker and a homemaker and she took to sports on the insistence of her maternal grandfather who works in the police departmentTrained initially at the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadus SDAT Centre of Chennai Subha went on to win medals in national meets before she became part of the womens 4x400m relay team that won a silver in the 2018 Asian Junior ChampionshipsMuhammed AnasThe 29yearold Anas is the most wellknown mens quartermiler in the country and the national record holder Already a twotime Olympian Anas has won medals at the Asian Games Asian Championships and 2016 he became is only the third Indian quartermiler individual 400m to participate at the Olympics after KM Binu and Milkha Singh He was a part of the Indian mens 4x400m and mixed 4x400m relays in Tokyo OlympicsHe was also part of the mens 4x400m team that broke the Asian record in the World Championships last year and won the gold medal at the Asian Games in HangzhouAnas hails from Nilamel village in Kerala and his father Yahiya was a statelevel athlete Anas has often stated that he became interested in running after seeing Jamaican legend Usain Bolt dashing down the track in the 2008 OlympicsHe was a long jump champion at his school but shifted to track on the advice of coachesAt the 2016 senior nationals Anas clinched the 400m silver in his first attempt and broke the 46second barrier at the Indian Grand Prix and Federation Cups that year for the first timeMuhammed Ajmal VariyathodiBorn in Palakkad Kerala Muhammed Ajmal was a football player just like many youngsters in his state He participated at the U19 state level football tournaments until his coach recommended a shift to running He was a 100m sprinter first and then began competing in 400mAmoj JacobBorn in Kerala but brought up in New Delhi Jacobs sporting journey began during his time at St Xaviers School in Rohini when his coach suggested that he try becoming a sprinter The 25yearold was initially interested in football His mother is a nurse at a Delhi hospitalHe was part of the gold winning 4x400m relay team at the 2017 Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar besides winning the Hangzhou Asian Games gold in the same eventArokia RajivHailing from a village near Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu athletics runs in Arokias blood as his father Y Soundararajan was a state level sprinter and long jumper Arokias father Soundararajan was a bus driver while his mother a daily wagerThe 32yearold Armyman was part of the goldwinning 4x400m mixed relay team and he settled for a silver medal in the mens 4x400m relay at the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta He was part of the Tokyo Olympics 4x400m relay team that broke the then Asian recordWith agency inputs