Medley relay girls finish 5th

The title was claimed by the team from USA, who logged 2:05.74s. Jamaica finished in the second spot with 2:06.77s, while Candian bagged third place clocking 2:09.08s.

In the third heat, held on Saturday, the quartet clocked their then best-ever timing of two minutes, 10.53 seconds to finish a close second behind Canada (2:10.13).

Medley relays consist of four athletes running 100m, 200m, 300m and 400m respectively. In the heat, Srabani had provided a good start, handing over the baton to Vidwans at the 100m mark. The Maharashtra girl then carried on the good work before Anu Mariam Jose took over.

The 400m leg was run by Poovamma, who had become the first Indian athlete to qualify for the finals of an event at the here — the 400m — at the ongoing meet. She ran a superb lap to edge out Barbados’ Griffith Latoya at the finish line.

The third heat was the most competitive as can be gauged from the fact that Kazakhstan, who finished fourth, also qualified for the final.

The other teams who qualified were Jamaica, Japan, the United States and Australia.

Meanwhile, India’s Manpreet Kaur finished ninth in the girls’ shot put final with a best throw of 13.57m. Manpreet, whose best effort came in her second try, disappointed as the last three of her six attempts were fouls.

She managed 13.01m and 13.03m in her first and third throws respectively and was way behind her personal best of 14.49m and her best effort of the season — 14.42m.

The gold went to Belarus’ Aliona Hryshko with a personal best of 15.91m ahead of the German duo of Samira Burkhardt (15.36m) and Sophie Kleeburg (14.94m, pb).

Indian girls put up their best performance ever in this tournament, with Poovamma leading the way with a 7th place in the 400m.