World Athletics Championships: India Mixed 4x400m Relay Team Qualifies For World Championships Final, Books Olympics Berth

The Indian mixed 4x400m relay team qualifies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after reaching the finals in the World Championships in Doha on Saturday. The quartet of Muhammed Anas, VK Vismaya, Jisna Mathew and Tom Nirmal Noah clocked 3 minutes 16.14 seconds to finish third in heat number 2 and book a berth in next year's Olympics. The top 3 in each of the two heats and the next two fastest qualify for the final of the World Championships to be held on Sunday. 

The finalists (top 8) in relay races in the World Championships are automatic qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics. 

Meanwhile, sprinter Dutee Chand's World Championships campaign ended in disappointment as she crashed out in the first round while 400m hurdler M P Jabir made an exit in the semifinals. Dutee clocked 11.48 seconds -- one of her worst timings this season -- in the women's 100m heats to finish seventh in her heat and 37th overall among 47 competitors. 

Running in the outermost lane, Jabir finished fifth in men's 400m hurdles semifinals heat number 3 and 16th overall among 24 runners with a time of 49.71 seconds. 

The top two finishers in each of the three semifinal heats and the next two fastest runners qualify for the finals. Reigning world champion Karsten Warholm of Norway led the runners into the finals with a timing of 48.28 seconds. 

Jabir had qualified for the semifinals with a timing of 49.62 seconds on Friday but he could not improve upon it on Saturday. He has a personal best of 49.13 which he had clocked this year. 

For the 23-year-old Dutee, who ran in the innermost lane, it was another heartbreak as she had come in this championship with the hope of at least reaching the semifinals but it was not to be. 

Dutee's timing was in stark contrast with those of the likes of 2012 Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica and last edition silver medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast, who led the heat timings with 10.80 and 10.85 seconds respectively. 

This showed how much the Indians are lagging behind as compared to the best in the world. 

Dutee's heat was won by reigning Olympic champion Elaine Thompson (11.14 seconds) of Jamaica. 

The timing of the last qualifier for the semifinals was 11.31 seconds and it was well within Dutee's reach but she could not do it. The first three in each of the six heats and the next six fastest qualify for the semifinals.

On the same tracks in April during the Asian Championships, the 23-year-old Dutee had clocked 11.28 seconds during the heats and 11.26 seconds (national record) in the semifinals. 

But on Saturday, she came up with her third worst time of the season, after the 11.51 seconds in February and 11.61 seconds in March during the heats in the Federation Cup. 

Dutee, the reigning World University Games champion, exited in the heats in the 2017 World Championships. She had clocked 12.07 seconds in the heats in London in the last edition.