The Indians will have another chance on Sunday to make the cut for the Tokyo World Championships.
India will mount a "strategic" bid for the 2029 and 2031 World Athletics Championships when the process begins later this year, hoping to get the hosting rights of one of the two editions of the showpiece, national federation spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla said on Sunday.
In the 2023 edition, India had won 27 medals to finish third in the standings behind Japan and China.
Monday's timing will put India in the 21st place in the Road to Paris list of World Athletics while the aim was to be either in the 15th or 16th spot. India, thus, is in a difficult position to make the Paris cut.
The men's quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Santosh Kumar, Mijo Chacko Kurian and Arokia Rajiv also failed to stand on top of the podium as they clocked 3:05.76 to finish second behind Sri Lanka (3:04.48). Vietnam was third with 3:07.37.
"The men's 4x400m relay team had a good start. Muhammad Anas clocked 45.93 seconds in the first leg, but the second runner -- Rajesh Ramesh -- fell down due to cramps in leg muscles at the first bend," read a statement from the Athletics Federation of India.
India now have 19 Paris-bound track and field athletes and the list includes defending javelin throw champion Neeraj Chopra among others.
'if my body is giving me company why should I stop the sport? Some foreign athletes run till 35 or 37. So I wanted to set an example for other athletes that age does not matter,' says MR Poovamma, Arjuna Awardee and the senior-most member of the Paris Olympics-bound Indian women's 4x400m relay team.
A low-down on the eight runners -- four men and four women -- who finished second in their qualifying heats to make the Olympic cut.
S Dhanalakshmi, who had beaten Dutee in the final of women's 100m sprint in the Federation Cup last month, was also named in the team,
The Athletics Federation of India is trying to book an alternate flight available to any European city en route to Silesia in Poland
'When the Olympics were postponed last year there were talks of the virus situation improving, but we are going from bad to worst.'
Hima Das is the first top track and field athlete to have received the vaccine.
The top eight finishers in the World Relays on May 1 and 2 at Chorzow in Selisia will get automatic berths in the Tokyo Games, scheduled to begin on July 23.
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