In the end it got too close for India’s comfort in the women’s 4x400m relay. At the 200m mark in the last leg, Kazakhstan’s Olga Tereshkova, the 400m champion, had overtaken Mandeep Kaur.
In the end it got too close for India’s comfort in the women’s 4x400m relay. At the 200m mark in the last leg, Kazakhstan’s Olga Tereshkova, the 400m champion, had overtaken Mandeep Kaur.
The Indian supporter’s hearts may have been in their mouths, but there was no look of anxiety on the faces of Mandeep’s teammates — Sini Jose, Ashwini Akkunji and Manjeet Kaur, as they stood watching the race at the finish line.
“We were confident Mandeep will do it, she is a fighter. We knew she will not let the Kazakh girl pass, what if she is the 400m gold medal winner,” Ashwini told DNA.
“The runner from Kazakhstan (Tereshkova) is excellent. When I reached 200m, I found she was leading, but I told myself I can pass her,” Mandeep said.
“We were determined to win this gold. We were hurt by PT Usha’s comments after our Commonwealth Games gold that our team will not win at the Asian Games. We have shown it to madam that we have the mettle,” Mandeep added.
The Indian quartet won a thrilling women’s 4x400m relay to take India’s fifth athletic gold of the Asian Games here on Friday night. Mandeep ran a beautifully timed final leg to hold off Tereshkova, who ran the anchor leg.
Marina Maslyonko gave Kazakhstan the lead on the first leg, just ahead of India’s Manjeet. After that, India led all the way. Sini handed over to 400m hurdles gold medallist Ashwini, who was challenged on the bend by 800m winner Margarita Matsko (Kazakhstan), but drew away up the straight to hand over to Mandeep some five metres clear. But it was Kaur and Tereshkova and ultimately Kaur, who had the strength to maintain their run all the way to the finish.
India took the gold in three minutes 29.02 seconds, an Asian Games record, Kazakhstan the silver and China the bronze.
It was India’s third gold medal in a row in the women’s 4x400m relay at Asian Games, and follows on from their gold medal at the Delhi Commonwealth Games.
“We have a special feeling in the relay team when we run the race. We can feel the confidence inside us that we can do it,” said Mandeep.
Earlier, Preeja Sreedharan and Kavita Raut produced another stunning run to give India silver and a bronze in the women’s 5000m. The Indian girls were in the running for the gold, but left it a bit too late when Bahrain’s Mimi Belete Gebregeiorges’ gave the charge with 150 metres left in the race.
In the final straight, Preeja and Kavita had much more fuel in the tank but Belete’s lead was too big to cover. “We left it a bit too late. We tried our best but couldn’t catch up in the end. However, I am happy with the silver medal,” Preeja said.
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