Battle of the sexes: Mixed relay could offer a sure-shot gold for India

With the track and field events starting, India will be looking forward to many medals from its bankable athletes. In the fray are favourites such as javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, new sensation Hima Das and last time’s gold winner in discus throw, Seema Punia.

However, this time, there is an extra event that might help India win an additional gold. The 4x400m mixed relay event. “India is assured of a gold in the mixed relay event,” former Olympian P.T. Usha told THE WEEK.

The event is like a regular relay, but features two men and two women from each country. And, they can run in any order. “It’s good that they have introduced mixed relay in the Asian Games,” Das told THE WEEK. “People will have a lot of fun watching it. As far as practice goes, it is the same as in the women’s relay. The baton exchange is the same. But, the coach will decide at the time on who will start the race and who will carry it forward.”

So, let’s say a male athlete is starting for another country. Will every country have to do the same?

“No, no. It’s not like that,” she said. “Each country decides on how to structure the race. We can start with the women, or with the men. It can be two women upfront, or two men. Or they could be mixed.”

Surely an oddity, the event is likely to be popular among the spectators at Jakarta, and in Tokyo, at the next Olympics. Said the IAAF website: “This new discipline, tested earlier this year in Nitro Athletics and at the IAAF World Relays, has been hugely successful and appealing for athletes and spectators alike. Pitching teams of two men and two women together with the added dimension of team tactics make this a vibrant, youthful and exciting competition.”

For India, especially, this new event could offer a sure-shot gold. “As long as they stay in their track and don’t drop the baton, we can win the gold,” Indian deputy chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair told THE WEEK. “India has strong men and women. The Qatar squad lacks female runners, while the Bahrain squad lacks men.”

Eyeing a gold, the Indian team is practising separately for this event. “They have to practise together, otherwise they won’t get the rhythm,” said Nair. “The technique is more or less the same, but some aspects, like the difference in height between the athletes, need to be overcome during practice. Unlike in the regular relay, you may have to reach up or down to pass the baton to your teammate. We’re working on these things.”

At the World Relays in Bahamas, in 2017, the last leg of the mixed relay was a contest between a man and a woman. Michael Mathieu of the Bahamas beat Claudia Francis of the US by close to three seconds, sending the home crowd into a tizzy.

Perhaps Jakarta can expect the same in a few days.