National Inter-State Athletics Championship | Anjali Devi of Haryana creates personal best in women's 400m, qualifies for Asian Games
On the second day of the National Inter-State Championship here on Friday, Anjali Devi of Haryana produced a spectacular personal best time in her first competition in four years to win the women's 400m gold and seal a spot at the Asian Games.
Interestingly, she had not competed in a 400-meter race since October 2019, but yet won the gold medal at the Kalinga Stadium by defeating the promising Haimashi Malik, also of Haryana, in 51.48 seconds.
"I have been injured for the last 3-4 years and I used to sustain injury whenever a competition came. It was an emotional 3-4 years. I was having depression. I qualified for the Tokyo Olympics but a few months before the Games, my quad muscles were completely torn," Anjali said after the race.
"I can improve my timing a lot because I am taking part hereafter four-five weeks of training at the national camp. I am completely recovered. I will do hard work at the national camp and do well in the Asian Games and Olympics. I can run 49.9 if I remain injury free and do hard training."
Anjali's semifinal heat time in the morning session was 52.03, whereas her round one heat time on Thursday was 52.89. She had improved the Asian Games qualifying record in each of the three events she had competed in after overcoming a significant injury she had suffered in 2019.
It bodes well for India's chances of earning six consecutive Asian Games gold medals in the women's 4x400m relay since 2002 as four of its quarter-mile runners have times under 53 seconds.