Individual exploits in 400m events a thing of the past as top athletes shift focus to relay

India’s athletic ethos is intrinsically linked to 400m events, following the legendary exploits of late Milkha Singh and PT Usha. But such individual glory is very much a thing of the past.

Since 'The Flying Sikh' finished fourth in 45.73 seconds in the 400m final at the 1960 Rome Olympics, only five Indians have bettered his time. Despite improved facilities, no Indian sprinter has managed to go sub-45 sec in the 400m individual race.

By contrast, America has more than 10 sprinters who can go sub-45 in the event.

According to Amoj Jacob, who anchored India’s 4x400m relay team in Tokyo:

“Due to pandemic the challenging individual 400m event qualification time of 44.90 seconds in the men’s group for the Tokyo Olympic Games was difficult to achieve. So the entire focus was to qualify for the 4x400m relay.”

The Indian men's quartet set a new Asian record of 3:00.25 minutes in the 4x400m qualification round at the Tokyo Olympics.

During a felicitation ceremony for Indian athletes returning from the Games on Tuesday, New Delhi-based Jacob said the lack of international exposure in the build-up to the Olympics was one of the main reasons no Indian sprinter qualified for the individual 400m event.

“We could have made efforts but there was no international exposure due to the pandemic. It was a difficult time. We could only compete in domestic events and managed to qualify for relay event.”

Despite their exploits, the team comprising Jacob, Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Rajiv Arokia and Tom Noah Nirmal missed qualifying for the Olympic final by a whisker. The previous Asian record of 3:00.56 was set by Qatar in 2018.

India's chief athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair said in this regard:

“By setting an Asian record, it proves that Indian quarter-milers have made good progress. A good performance at the Tokyo Games shows there is an overall improvement in the 400m event.”

Milkha Singh's 400m national record stood for almost four decades. It was bettered in 1998, when Punjab’s Paramjeet Singh clocked 45.70 sec at a domestic meet in Kolkata. He further bettered it to 45.52 in 2000.

Kerala’s KM Binu improved the record by clocking 45.48 during the 400m qualification round at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He became only the second Indian to better Milkha’s timing.

It took another 14 years for Muhammed Anas to further improve the record to 45.32 at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. This amply demonstrates the slow progress made by Indian quarter-milers.

Arokia is the third Indian to better Milkha's time. His personal best of 45.37 was achieved at the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships in Doha.

In 2019, Muhammed Anas further improved his own national record to 45.24 at an international meet in the Czech Republic. When asked why he couldn’t qualify for the individual 400m at the Tokyo Olympics, Muhammed Anas said his focus was the relay and not the individual event.

“Due to the pandemic, the preparation was more or less focused on the relay and not individual event. In the future, I would think of qualifying for the individual 400m event.”

Although the 26-year-old qualified for the individual 400m event at the 2016 Rio Games, he didn't have a great outing, making a first-round exit.

Jacob's personal best of 45.68 in 400m was clocked in March this year. The 23-year-old, who ran a sub-45 relay leg at the Tokyo Olympics, said he is looking forward to a promising 2022 season.

“I’m hopeful of improving my performance in the 2022 season. There are three major international competitions including the Asian Games and World Athletics Championships. It will be a good platform to test my sprinting skills.”