New Delhi, July 23 The silver medal that the Indian 4×400 mixed relay quartet of Mohammed Anas, M.R. Poovamma, Hima Das and Arokia Rajiv won at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta has been upgraded to gold. Additionally, Anu Raghavan moved from fourth place to bronze medal position in the women's 400m hurdles. This after the Bahrain squad, which finished first in the 4×400 mixed relay final, was disqualified with Kemi Adekoya of Bahrain being handed a four-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for failing a dope test.
"The additional medal takes our tally to 20, including eight gold and nine silver," said Athletics Federation of India (AFI) President Adille J. Sumariwalla.
"The news comes as a fillip to us as we are aiming to build on the Asian Games showing and make a mark at the global level in the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year," he said.
"The 4x400m relay squad will be particularly pleased that it now has two gold and a silver from Jakarta. We are confident that under coach Galina Bukharina's guidance, the relay squad will perform well."
The 4x400m mixed relay team of Mohammed Anas, M.R. Poovamma, Hima Das and Arokia Rajiv had finished in 3:15.71 after Hima Das was obstructed by Oluwakemi Adekoya, who was sprawling on the track after the second baton exchange.
India now is the first winner of the event introduced in the Asian Games in 2018 in keeping with the international bid to find gender balance.
Anu Raghavan had clocked her fastest time of 2018, 56.92 seconds in finishing fourth in the hurdles final while her teammate Jauna Murmu's second fastest (57.48) gave her the fifth place. Adekoya's disqualification saw them move to higher places.
( With inputs from IANS )