The cream of world sprinters, including American star Noah Lyles, reigning Italian Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs and Dutchwoman Femke Bol, have assembled in the Bahamas for the World Relays this weekend.
So have the Indians. They, in fact, have been cooped up in the island nation famous for its luxurious tourism for a month. That puts in context the relevance of this edition of the World Relays, where not just medals but Paris Olympics spots too are on offer.
The latter is what the country’s relay teams across the men’s 4x400m, women’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m will be out to grab. Especially the men’s quartermilers on the back of their upbeat 2023 comprising the Asian record setting World Championships where they finished fifth followed by the gold medal winning Asian Games. Kickstarting the new international season by securing direct qualification for Paris would carry that momentum into the Olympic year.
It is why the Athletics Federation of India thought it prudent to send the relay squads a good one month prior to this competition for a lengthy training block in the Bahamas. Amoj Jacob, Arokia Rajiv, Avinash Krishna Kumar, Rajesh Ramesh, Noah Nirmal Tom, Muhammed Ajmal, Muhammed Anas Yahiya and Yashas Palaksha, along with members of the women’s team, have spent the last month all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. They’ve been training twice every day, making a quick dash to the nearby beach during their rare time off and, more pertinently, acclimatising to the fickle weather.
“For us, the biggest challenge and unknown before any competition is the climate. And here, it is very unpredictable,” said Rajiv.
The tropical weather of the tiny island has thrown surprises at the Indian sprinters in the form of heat, rain, strong winds and at times chilly days. Having experienced the vagaries over the course of the month, though, they are better prepared to adapt to and tackle whatever the race day brings with it.
“On the days it is colder, it takes more time for the body to warm up. The other key factor is wind, which tends to pick up here at any moment. And that can really affect timings. In that sense, coming here early and training for almost a month has helped,” added Rajiv.
Noah, who like Rajiv was part of the Indian men’s quartet that set an Asian record at the Tokyo Olympics, concurred that tuning their body and mind to the weather was the biggest benefit of checking in early.
“If we had come here just before the competition, that would have been difficult. This gave us time to adapt to the climate as well as train hard here,” Noah said.
It remains to be seen who makes the start line on Saturday (the entry list featured the eight men while the team line-ups will be confirmed before the races). The quartet of Anas, Jacob, Ajmal and Ramesh had won the Asian Games gold (clocking 3:01.58) and finished
fifth in the Worlds final (2:59.92). In the season-opening meet in March, the combination of Noah, back from a sciatic nerve injury, Anas, Rajiv and Ajmal won the National Open Relay Carnival in Chandigarh (3:05.71). The final selection will be done on the day of the race, said AFI president Adille Sumariwalla.
The top two teams from each heat on Saturday will earn their Paris spots as well as a place in the World Relays final. There will be a second shot on Sunday for the remaining teams in another round where the top two teams from each heat will be rewarded with Olympic berths.
Hitting their strides after the off-season and a domestic 400m and relay meet, the runners, under the training programme of Jamaican Jason Dawson, have focussed on ramping up speed in the Bahamas.
“At this point in the season, we are looking at speed and explosiveness. If we improve our individual timing, it will reflect on our relay timing,” Noah said.
“The goal is to prepare for the Olympics. This qualification event is the first step towards that,” Rajiv said. “The key right now is to do just enough at this event to qualify, and then crank up the training and peak towards the Olympics.”
Volatile weather in the island notwithstanding, there is a steady air of confidence around the men’s relay squad going into the weekend. Their efforts last year made them believe they can be competitive even amid a world-class field, which the World Relays will again present. Booking a Paris berth in the Bahamas will only reinforce that belief.
“After last year, everyone is confident enough to run at the big stage. It will not be easy here, because every team is good. But the team is motivated and confident of achieving what we’re here for,” Noah said.
“This time, we are a lot more confident. If each one of us gives our best, we should be able to get through,” Rajiv said.
