India bags fifth consecutive gold in 4x400m women’s relay at Asian Games since 2002 Asiad

Indian women's quartet crossed the finishing line in 3 minutes, 28.72 seconds in the 4x400m women’s relay at the Asian Games.

On day 12, India added another gold in the 4x400m women's relay in the ongoing Asian Games. With this fifth consecutive gold medal, India has retained its eighth position in the overall medal tally. Hima Das, also known as Dhing Express by the Indian media, started off the race with her sprint.

The gold came to India when the Indian women quartet crossed the finishing line in 3 minutes, 28.72 seconds. This is the fifth consecutive gold India has won in the 4x400m women’s relay since the 2002 Asian Games.

The Indian quartet was represented by Hima Das, Poovamma Raju Machettira, Saritaben Laxmanbhai Gayakwad, and Vismaya Velluva Koroth. An interesting fact about the group is that it is the youngest group in the Indian contingent. At the age of 28, Poovamma is the eldest sportsperson in the group. The others are all under 25 years of age - Sarita Gayakwad, 24; VK Vismaya, 21; and Hima Das, the youngest of all at the age of 18, reports The Indian Express.

Hima and Poovama are the youngest and most promising athletes in the Asian continent. In past, both of them have bagged silver in the 4x400m mixed relay.

After 400m silver medal winner Hima completed her 100m sprint, the baton was passed to Poovamma. With the boost India got in its initial 200m sprint, the race kickstarted and Sarita took over. In the end, the baton was handed over to Vismaya, who finished the race, taking India to its gold. This win could also have broken the game record of 3:28:68, but the Indian women's quartet missed it by a whisker - four milliseconds.

While India clinched gold, Bahrain won silver with a timing of 3 minutes 30.61 seconds, while Vietnam finished third with bronze with a timing of 3 minutes 33.23 seconds, says India.com.

In an overall tally of the athletic medals, India stood third with China and Bahrain claiming the first two stands, says Firstpost.

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