Tokyo 2020: 4x400m relay team fails to make final despite breaking Asian record

The Indian mens 4x400m relay team shattered the Asian record but failed to qualify for the finals while the race walkers produced disappointing performances to bring up the rear in the OlympicsThe quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya Tom Noah Nirmal Rajiv Arokia and Amoj Jacob finished fourth in the second heat with a timing of 30025 sec They missed the eightteam final by a whisker as they ended at ninth spot overall The first three in each of the two heats and the next two fastest qualify for the final The earlier Asian record was in the name of Qatar which had clocked 30056 while winning the gold in the 2018 Asian GamesJacob who ran the last leg was the best among the four Indian runners with 4468 seconds as he overtook two rivals after the team was placed at sixth when he took the baton from Rajiv Arokia 4484 National record holder Yahiya understandably clocked the slowest 4560 time as he had to run the longest distance after starting the race in lane number 2Earlier in the day the race walkers failed to impress with belowpar performances at Sapporo National record holder Priyanka Goswami was among the leading pack around the halfway mark but eventually finished 17th while compatriot Bhawna Jat ended at 32nd in the womens 20km race walk event In the mens 50km event Gurpreet Singh pulled out after the 35km mark due to cramps under hot and humid conditions as the Indian race walkers ended their disappointing campaignThe 25yearold Priyanka clocked 1 hr 32 minutes 36 seconds well outside her personal best of 12845 which she had come up with during the National Open Race Walk Championships in February The event was held under hot and humid conditions Priyanka was in the leading pack from the beginning and was the frontrunner when she crossed the 8km mark but she eventually dropped downAlso Read Tokyo Olympics Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia loses in semifinal to fight for bronze nowBhawna on the other hand failed to keep pace with the leading pack and was behind from the beginning to eventually end at 32nd with a time of 13738The 25yearold Indian has a personal best of 12954 Antonella Palmisano of Italy won the gold clocking 12912 while Colombian Sandra Lorena Arenas 12937 and Hong Liu 12957 of China took the silver and bronze respectivelyIn the morning the 37yearold Gurpreet one of the lowest ranked athletes in the event was 51st at the 35km mark with a time of 2 hr 55 minutes and 19 seconds but dropped out just after that He had slowed down considerably and was seen sitting on the sidelines after the 35km mark being helped by the medical team of the race but did not seem in much troubleGurpreet has a personal best of 35942 which he had clocked while winning gold during the National Open Race Walk Championships in February The temperature at the Sapporo Odori Park was around 25 degree celsius when the event started at 530am local time but rose to above 30 degree celsius when it ended after 9am local time The humidity was at a very high 80 per centFifty nine athletes started but 12 either did not finish or were disqualified Dawid Tomala of Poland won the gold with a time of 35008 while Jonathan Hilbert 35044 of Germany and Evan Dunfee 35059 of Canada took the silver and bronze respectivelyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever