Jyothika Sri Dandi, the runner who produced the fastest leg for India in the women's 4x400m second Olympic qualifying round at the World Relays Bahamas, couldn't compete at the Asian Games last year due to a knee injury. “Depressed” and cursing her luck, the sprinter from Andhra wanted to leave the national camp and return home. Her father too would urge her to do so, she recalled.

Only one thought had the wheels to reignite her drive and pull her back into the camp. “The Olympics — I wanted to qualify for that,” she said.

On Sunday, at the final time of asking in the qualifying event in Nassau, she did along with the women’s 400m quartet. So did the more accomplished Indian men’s 4x400m team overcoming a nightmarish first attempt that ended with a runner down and none at the finish line.

The women's team, which did not make the cut for the Tokyo Games, will be back at the Olympic stage, finishing second in their heat of the second qualifying round that gave Paris spots to the top two teams after 40 had gone through from the first. Jyothika's blistering second leg got them up from last to second, where the team also comprising Rupal Chaudhary, Machettira Raju Poovamma and Subha Venkatesan finished with a timing of 3:29.35.

"It was do or die for us," Jyothika said from Nassau. "After I lost out on the Asian Games last year, I had to qualify for this. I'm happy and relieved that we made it, and so is my father."

The men’s team, which broke the Asian record at the Tokyo Games and continued to excel last year at the Worlds (fifth) and Asian Games (first), belatedly got what they hoped to secure on the first day. Rajesh Ramesh's injury, however, left them hanging by a thread and messed up plans (India did not field a team for the mixed 4x400m in the second round).

The men came back stringing together a composed show in a heat comprising stronger teams in USA and Bahamas as Muhammad Anas, Muhammad Ajmal, Rajiv Arokia and Amoj Jacob, who ran a quality anchor leg, clocked 3:03.23 to finish behind USA (2:59.95).

The timings aren't too flattering for either team (indeed, there were faster teams in other heats that did not qualify). Both were also helped by strokes of luck on the day. But, after spending a month in the Bahamas training for this, they eventually got the job done and the direct Paris berth secured.

Ramesh's injury meant India were forced to tweak their combination and order for the second qualifying race. Like in the first, though, Anas kicked things off and completed his 400m split in 46.15s behind USA and Qatar. The second-leg runner for Qatar then pulled up, pushing India to second. Ajmal maintained that position despite being challenged by Kenya and Mexico.

As Mexico's third-leg runner nudged ahead, Tokyo Olympian Arokia, who replaced Ramesh, found himself jostling for third spot with Kenya. By the time the baton changed hands for the final time, the second spot had a three-way tussle between Mexico, India and Kenya. That's when Jacob, who was behind Kenya's second-placed Kennedy Muthoki at the start of the anchor leg, came into his own. Jacob cranked up his pace at the final bend and began to sneak past the Kenyan. Up to second place at the home stretch, he got the team home there.

The women too changed things up in their start list after a disappointing fifth-place finish in their first attempt that made members of the squad nervously dig into stats and details about the teams they would be up against next. “But I was like, it’s in our hands to get qualified. If we did our best, I was confident we would go through,” Jyothika said.

With first runner Vithya Ramraj making way for teen Rupal, India started a fair bit away from the pack in their five-team heat where Jamaica, Germany and Brazil set the pace. Jyothika's 51.36 effort got them toe-to-toe with the Germans while overtaking the Brazilian second-leg runner.

“When someone is in front of me, I like to chase them. They were all running in the same lane ahead of me, and I loved that," Jyothika said.

Germany lost pace at the halfway mark to a botched baton exchange, which propelled India to clear second. Poovamma maintained the gap between India and the Germans and Brazilians in the third leg, and so did Subha in the final leg.

Read Also: orange cap in ipl 2024 after mi beat srh: travis head moves into top five; virat kohli remains table topper