India's Silver medal upgraded to Gold in mixed relay 2018 Asian Games

New Delhi:The Silver medal won by India's 4x400m mixed relay quartet of Mohammed Anas, MR Poovamma, Hima Das and Arokia Rajiv at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta has been upgraded to gold, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) said.India's Anu Raghavan also moved from fourth place to bronze medal position in the women's 400m hurdles.

The upgrade came after the Bahrain squad, which finished first in the 4?400 mixed relay final, was disqualified with Kemi Adekoya of the team being handed a four-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for failing a dope test.

The 4x400m mixed relay team of Anas, Poovamma, Hima Das and Arokia had finished with a timing of 3:15.7. India is now the first winner of the event, introduced in the Asian Games in 2018, in keeping with the international bid to find gender balance.

Anu had clocked her fastest time of 56.77 seconds in finishing fourth in the hurdles final while her team-mate Jauna Murmu's second fastest (57.48) gave her the fifth place. Adekoya's disqualification saw them moving up.

AFI President Adille J Sumariwalla said the organisation is delighted with the development. 

''The additional medal takes our tally to 20, including eight Golds and nine Silvers,'' he said.

''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. 

''The 4x400m relay squad will be particularly pleased that it now has two Golds and a Silver from Jakarta. We are confident that under Coach Galina Bukharina's guidance, the relay squad will perform well,'' he added.(UNI)