Once a Railways ticket checker, Rajesh Ramesh makes India proud with relay show

NEW DELHI: “This doesn’t feel right.” These thoughts crossed USA’s star quarter-miler Justin Robinson’s mind when India’s Rajesh Ramesh nearly crossed him over the bend during the heats of 4x400m relay event at the recently-concluded World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. “I was spooked,” Robinson admitted later. The American recovered immediately, but it took a small nudge from Robinson on Ramesh to ensure his surge to -wards the finish line. The Indians came second in the heats with a timing of 2:59.05 seconds, a new Asian record. The Indian quartet, however, couldn’t get on to the podium, finishing fifth in the final, while the Americans — the world record holders of the event — grabbed gold with a world leading (WL) time of 2:57.31 seconds. It was the US quartet’s — Quincy Hall, Ver -non Norwood, Rai Benjamin and Justin Robinson — fifth consecutive title, combining World Championships and Olympic Games. Among the unheralded Indian quartet comprising Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muham -mad Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh, it was Rajesh who ran the anchor leg during the Worlds. Just a couple of years back, the thought of competing at this level was a distant dream for Rajesh. The 23-year-old, who hails from Tamil Nadu, was stationed as a ticket checker at the Tiruchirappalli railway station in 2020. “It was the Covid time. I didn’t really enjoy my time as a ticket checker. My mind was on the athletics track. I wanted to go back there as soon as possible. But being a Rail -way employee, I had to do that duty as well,” Rajesh said during an interaction here at the JLN Stadium after coming back from Budapest. “I also participated at the 2018 U-20 World Championships, but in -juries, work commitments and disruptions due to the Covid pandemic made my athletics career go back instead of going forward,” he added. His name might be popular now after his exploits at the World Championships, but Rajesh’s stocks in the national scene in -creased when he shocked experienced quarter-milers like Anas and Ajmal in the 400m event at the 2023 Federation Cup in Ranchi. “That performance came as a big surprise for me too. I didn’t expect I’ll be able to get the better of Anas bhai,” said Rajesh. On the Budapest show, Rajesh felt Indian athletes are coming of age and more such performances will be on display in the future. “We came to the World Championships to give our best. We wanted to achieve sub 3-minute timing and we managed to accomplish that. We didn’t care who we were competing against… whether it was the world champions (US team) or the European champions (Great Britain team), we wanted to fight till the end and not give up in the middle of the race,” Rajesh said.