A video, showing Indian men’s relay team breaking the Asian record with ‘2 minutes 59.05 seconds’ and securing qualification for the final round of the World Athletics Championships recently, has gone viral on social media. The 4-minute 14-second video captures India’s 4x400m relay team surpassing teams like Great Britain and Japan, finishing second behind the United States.
The Facebook post reads: “India’s 4 × 400 men’s relay team qualified for the first time in the World finals and also broke the Asian record. No one expected us !!! Wow what a great performance Team India!”
The above post can be seen here. (Archive)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the claim, and found it to be misleading.
With a keyword search, the NM team found multiple articles confirming that the event took place in August 2023. According to a report by The Hindu, dated August 27, 2023, the Indian men’s 4x400m relay team set a new Asian record with a time of ‘2 minutes 59.05 seconds’. This achievement secured their first-ever qualification for the final round of the World Championships in Budapest on August 26. The team, comprising Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi, and Rajesh Ramesh, finished second behind the USA (2:58.47), advancing to the final scheduled for Sunday.
Conducting another keyword search on X, we found a post by Derek O’Brien, a leader from the Trinamool Congress in Rajya Sabha, congratulating the Indian team for their accomplishment. The post, dated August 27, 2023, features the same footage of the event.
What a glorious moment for Indian sport. If there’s one video you must watch today, it’s this. The disbelief in the commentators voice at 2.28 mins… “Is that India”) 😇
4 x 400 men’s relay, amongst the best in the universe. Yahiya, Jacob, Ajmal, Rajesh. Love 💙u guys 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/82xrLsy8bH— Derek O’Brien | ডেরেক ও’ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) August 27, 2023
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also praised the Indian relay team for their achievement, posting a video of the event on his official X account with a message: “Incredible teamwork at the World Athletics Championships! Anas, Amoj, Rajesh Ramesh and Muhammed Ajmal sprinted into the finals, setting a new Asian Record in the M 4X400m Relay. This will be remembered as a triumphant comeback, truly historical for Indian athletics.”
Despite their impressive qualification for the final, the Indian team fell short of securing a podium finish, ultimately finishing in fifth place at the World Athletics Championship 2023.
Thus, we can conclusively say that the 2023 video of men’s relay team qualifying for the World finals for the first time and setting a new Asian record has been falsely shared as recent.
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