World Athletics U20 Championships 2022: Indian mixed 4x400m relay team wins silver with Asian record
The quartet of Priya Mohan, Bharath Sridhar, Kapil and Rupal Chaudhary clocked 3:17:76s to finish just 0.07s behind race leaders USA in Cali.
The Indian mixed 4x400 relay team won the silver medal at the World Athletics Championships 2022 in Cali, Colombia on Tuesday. The quartet of Priya Mohan, Bharath Sridhar, Kapil and Rupal Chaudhary clocked 3:17:76s to finish behind the USA.
Rupal, who ran the final leg, finished just 0.07 seconds behind the winner. The Americans took the gold medal with a time of 3:17:69s, while Jamaica clinched the bronze with a timing of 3:19:98s.
The Indians bettered their own earlier Asian record of 3:19:62s that they set a day earlier in the heats.
It was India's second consecutive medal in the mixed 4x400m relay at the junior world championships. Kapil, Bharath Sridhar and Priya Mohan were part of the race last year in Nairobi when they won bronze.
The silver medal is more special as the Indian contingent reached Cali just the night before the event. They had to travel in batches from Mumbai after visa delays and lack of direct flights to Colombia.
A 31-member Indian team has been named for the junior world athletics championships, which will conclude on Saturday.
India finished with three medals last year in Nairobi. Indian athletes won a bronze in the mixed 4x400m relay and a silver each in the long jump (Shaili Singh) and 10km race walk (Amit Khatri).
India have now won eight medals, including two golds, at the World Athletics U20 Championships. Javelin throw ace Neeraj Chopra was the first Indian to win a world athletics U20 title at Bydgoszcz 2016 in Poland. At the Tampere 2018 meet in Finland, Hima Das bagged the 400m crown.