The Indian men’s 4x400m relay squad broke the 18-year-old National record, clocking a stunning 3:02.17s, in the Sprints and Relay Cup on Sunday. The Kerala athlete was the best Indian at Erzurum by a wide margin. In the other events, Srabani Nanda’s timing of 23.83s helped her take the fourth spot (Rio entry 23.20s) in the women’s 200m. The Indian quartet, comprising Asian Games bronze medallist Arokiya Rajiv, Mohammad Anas, A. Darun and Kunhumohammed, bettered the previous record of 3:02.62s set at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok. Meanwhile, former Asian champion Sini A. Markose (formerly Sinimol Paulose), who has been running the 1500m in the last few meets, moved down to 800m in Leiden (The Netherlands) on Saturday.

Source: The Hindu June 12, 2016 17:57 UTC