CHENNAI: A week ahead of the World Championships in Doha, a few Indian athletes in Czech Republic took part in a final event. The competition in Pardubice on Thursday was mainly meant to test where the women’s relay team stands following Hima Das’ injury.
If the timing achieved by the athletes put out by Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is anything to go by, then the fabled relay team is in trouble. According to an AFI tweet, MR Poovamma clocked 54.00s, Subha Venkatasen 54.7, Vithya 55.1 and Shalini VK 55.5. VK Vismaya, the best among the lot this year, did not even participate. Among men, Amoj Jacob clocked 46.5s, while KS Jeevan recorded a timing of 47.2s.
Ahead of a major event such as Worlds, athletes are expected to hit their peak. In India’s case, timings are getting worse. In August, Poovamma clocked 53.47. At Asian Championships in April, it was 52.46s. With a week to go for the big event, she has gone down by more than a second. Another prominent 4x400 runner, Subha, timed 53.67 at another event in the Czech Republic in August.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Thursday put up a provisional entry list of the participants at the Worlds. In the relay teams, there are not many surprises. Dharun Ayyasamy is on the men’s list, but is unlikely to run unless Alex Antony, Amoj Jacob, Noha Tom or Muhammed Anas gets injured. “For Doha, I am concentrating only on hurdles. I’ve been training for that,” Dharun said from Czech Republic.
Anjali Devi, the season’s best 400m runner, has been named for the individual event. The AFI had earlier said her participation is subject to trials in Patiala on Saturday.