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The Indian men's 4x400m relay team sealed their spot for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 after being placed 13th out of 16 teams on the qualification deadline day on June 29th.
Previously holding onto the 16th spot, courtesy of the timing of 3:02.59s, at a meet in Turkey back in 2019, the team hoped to improve their ranking at the Indian Grand Prix 4, which took place in Patiala on June 21. They failed to do so with a time of 3:02.61s.
Fortunately, the quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Arokia Rajiv and Noah Nirmal Tom earned their berth at the Olympic Games after clocking a solid 3:01.89s at the 60th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships, also held at Patiala on Friday, the 25th of June, which took them up to the 13th rank on the Road to Tokyo list.
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But who really are these four speedsters? Let's take a closer look.
Noah Nirmal Tom
Noah Nirmal Tom's heroics at the World Championships in Doha in 2019 earned the Indian mixed 4x400m relay team a berth at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The 26-year-old anchored the team of Muhammad Anas Yahiya, VK Vismaya, Jisna Mathew and himself, which gave them a direct qualification for the Olympic Games.
The sprinter extended his heroics at the 60th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships when he anchored the men's 4x400m team that will be a part of the Indian contingent in Tokyo.
Noah Nirmal Tom hails from the city of Kozhikode in Kerala and began his athletics career in the sixth grade. Noah credits his prowess at the 400m event to his coach George P Joseph at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), in Kozhikode, and to his coach Rajmohan MK of the Indian Air Force. Noah joined the Indian Air Force in 2014.
Amoj Jacob
Amoj Jacob, a member of the 4x400m relay team at the World Championships in Doha in 2019, has had a stellar year of competition. After an injury scare during the Indian Grand Prix 1 back in February, he bounced back in the Grand Prix 2 with a time of 46.00s - a personal best time which was soon to be topped.
Amoj Jacob bettered his own personal record twice after the Grand Prix 2 performance with a time of 45.70 in the Grand Prix 3 and a 45.68s sprint at the Federation Cup in March. He won the gold for the same race.
Amoj expressed his confidence in the 4x400m men's relay team at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in an interview with The Hindu in early June. He said:
"For the first time, we have four runners who have gone below 46s. If we make it to Tokyo, we can finish among the top five in the 4x400m."
The 23-year-old ace sprinter hails from Delhi and hopes to soon break the national record time of 45.21s, currently held by his teammate Muhammad Anas Yahiya.
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Arokia Rajiv
The bronze medallist at the 2014 Asian Games and Arjuna award winner, Arokia Rajiv, is a key piece of the men's 4x400m team who will compete at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Arokia Rajiv missed out on competing at the World Championships in Doha in 2019, after suffering a toe injury. The 30-year-old, who previously held the national record in the event, got back into action at the Indian Grand Prix 1 back in February.
The experienced sprinter from Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu was also part of the mixed 4x400m team that won silver (later bumped to gold) at the Asian Games held in Jakarta, back in 2018.
Muhammad Anas Yahiya
The current national record holder in the 400m event, with an unbeaten time of 45.21s, Muhammad Anas Yahiya is only the third Indian to compete at the Olympics in the 400m event. He succeeded KM Binu and the late Milkha Singh when he competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Muhammad Anas first broke the national record in his debut international competition at the Polish Athletics Championship in 2015, by clocking a time of 45.44s in the heats. He eventually went on to break and reset his own national record twice after - 45.40s in the finals of the same Championship and then clocked the current standing record of 45.21s at the Kladno Athletics Meet in the Czech Republic in 2019.
Muhammad Anas also received the Arjuna award in 2019.
A native of Nilamel village in Kerala, Muhammad Anas Yahiya was also a part of the qualifying mixed 4x400m team that was placed 7th at the World Championships in Doha back in 2019.
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The mixed 4x400m relay team is yet to be announced but Muhammad Anas Yahiya and Noah Nirmal Tom are both favorites to be a part of the quartet.
Who are the challengers for this Indian quartet in Tokyo?
The men's 4x400m event will showcase the eight qualifying countries from the World Championships held in Doha in 2019 - USA, Jamaica, Belgium, Colombia, Trinidad & Tobago, Italy, France and Great Britain & NI. Joining the top eight are the qualifiers from the World Athletics Relays, which took place in Silesia, Poland back in May - Netherlands, Japan, Botswana and South Africa.
The remaining four coveted spots have been claimed by India, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic based on their timings at various qualifying events.
