Patiala, (Samajweekly) Maldives athletes will compete in the men’s and women’s relay competitions of the one-day Indian Grand Prix IV scheduled for Monday here.
“The Maldives athletes will reach Patiala by evening flight from Kochi. It is the only foreign team competing in the IGP IV and will compete in women’s 4x100m and men’s 4x400m relay events,” a national team coach told IANS.
The relay race will be the main attraction at the IGP IV as good performance will enable the men’s 4×400 meters relay squad to stay in contention to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games, starting July 23.
“The IGP IV will give athletes a chance to improve their timings before the June 29 deadline. India’s rank is 15 while top 16 teams are eligible to compete at the Olympics,” said an Athletics Federation of India (AFI) official.
The national team coach pointed out that the world ranking keeps fluctuating as and when national teams improve their performance in different competitions across the globe.
Based on India’s performance of 3 minutes 02.59 seconds, clocked in July 2019 in Turkey, the national team was ranked amongst the top 16 in world rankings. “But the latest world ranking is 15 and to avoid relegation before the June 29 deadline, the national relay should improve its performance,” added the coach.
To qualify for the Olympics, the women’s 4x100m relay squad should clock 43.00 seconds.
