India’s Relay Team and Neeraj Chopra Shine at Paris Olympics
The Indian athletics campaign at the Paris Olympics saw some highs and lows. The men’s 4×400 m relay team, consisting of Amoj Jacob, Rajesh Ramesh, Muhammed Ajmal, and Muhammed Anast, finished fifth in their heat and 11th overall, clocking a season-best time of 3:00.58. Unfortunately, this was not enough to advance to the medal round. Ajmal was the fastest among the Indian runners with a time of 44.60 seconds.
In heat two, France, Nigeria, and Belgium advanced to the final, while Botswana, Great Britain, the USA, Japan, and Zambia secured their spots from heat one.
The Indian women’s 4×400 m relay team, featuring Jyothika Sri Dandi, Machettira Raju Poovamma, Vithya Ramraj, and Subha Venkatesan, clocked 3:32.51, finishing eighth in their heat and 15th overall, missing out on the final. Jyothika was the fastest among them with a time of 51.30 seconds.
A major highlight for India was Neeraj Chopra’s performance in the men’s javelin throw. Chopra won a silver medal with a throw of 89.45 meters, just short of retaining his gold medal. Nadeem won gold with a record-breaking throw of 92.97 meters, while Grenada’s Anderson Peters took bronze with 88.54 meters.
Doubts Revealed
Relay Team -: A relay team is a group of runners who take turns running parts of a race. In this case, it’s a 4×400 meter race, meaning four runners each run 400 meters.
Paris Olympics -: The Paris Olympics is a big sports event where athletes from all over the world compete in different sports. It is held in Paris, the capital city of France.
Heat -: A heat is a preliminary race to qualify for the final race. Teams or athletes compete in heats to get the best times and move on to the next round.
Season-best time -: A season-best time is the fastest time a team or athlete has achieved in that season. It means they ran their best race of the year.
Neeraj Chopra -: Neeraj Chopra is an Indian athlete who competes in javelin throw. He is very famous in India for winning medals in international competitions.
Javelin throw -: Javelin throw is a sport where athletes throw a long spear called a javelin as far as they can. The person who throws it the farthest wins.
Nadeem -: Nadeem is an athlete who also competes in javelin throw. In this event, he won the gold medal with a very long throw.
Record-breaking throw -: A record-breaking throw means that the throw was the longest ever recorded in that event. It is a new highest achievement.
