'This was all planned': Assistant coach Raj Mohan on men's 4x400m relay team breaking Asian Record

India’s Rajesh Ramesh (left), Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob and Muhammed Anas Yahiya (right) after the men’s 4x400m relay heats at Budapest on Saturday. PIC/AFP

As we fretted that track wasn't making enough progress in the ongoing World Championships, apart from exceptions like Parul Choudhary in the 3000m steeplechase, out of the blue, like a car blazing down the wrong side, blindsiding everybody, the Indian men's relay team, not only qualified for the World Championships final, but in the process also broke the Asian record with a timing of 2:59.05. The previous record, 2:59.51, was with Japan.

Assistant coach with the athletic team, Raj Mohan is not surprised. In fact, he is a little amazed that someone is ‘surprised' with the result. "We believed in it," Raj Mohan says. "It was all planned. And that is the reason why the team was here from August 2."

Raj Mohan

If coming early to get used to the warm and muggy conditions was the key reason behind breaking the Asian record, it has worked wonderfully well for the team. For the quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh (also the running order), the celebrations at the end of Ramesh's run, coming in second behind the US team, defined their own belief.

Much harder job

The 4x400m relay is much more gruelling than the 4x100. A lot of runner qualities come into play, making the coach's job that much harder. What also helps is that all the four runners are good one-lap runners with timings close to each other. Anas is the 400m national record holder with 45.21. Amoj has a personal best (PB) of 45.68. Ajmal has a PB of 45.36, and Ramesh had a timing of 45.67 at the Asian Athletics Championships recently.

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The selection of the order of the runners is crucial. As Raj Mohan explains: "The second runner should have an advantage while handing over [the baton] to the third. That is important as a lead then can be held on to. If you fall back, then it becomes tough. Also, seeing the 2nd runner leading, the motivation is high for the 3rd."

The 400 is the track's toughest race as it combines speed, endurance, strength and mental toughness. Also, the 2nd runner is the first to receive the baton in the exchange zone in the designated lane. It's only after 100m that he cuts into the inner lane. And Amoj brilliantly showed the ability and skill to cut-in as there would be a congestion of runners all coming into the inner lane. Amoj ran powerfully down the stretch before handing it to Ajmal, who stretched the distance between himself and the 3rd-placed runner from Great Britain. This cushion would come in handy in the 4th lap. Ramesh was a blur around the 300m mark, edging past Justin Robinson for a few seconds, before the American went ahead. Ramesh ran calmly, a pre-requisite for the 4th lapper and held on for the 2nd spot.

We did it: Anas
An elated, out of breath, Anas said, "We were expecting 2:59, and it happened. We are very happy because last year we had very poor timings, something like 03:07. This time, we came here for 02:59 and did it."Amoj, hyper-excited, shaking like a tuning fork, said, "I was focusing on the USA guy [Matthew Boling]. I had to stay with him. As the coach said, ‘whoever is in first, you should be behind him'."
Indian track has most certainly come of age.