India’s Mohammad Anas Yahiya finished fourth in the 400 metres heat at the athletics world championships in London on Saturday. The 22-year-old clocked 45.98 seconds, finishing behind Nathon Allen of Jamaica (44.91), America’s Gil Roberts (44.92) and Qatar’s Abdelelah Haroun (45.27 seconds). The top three from the heats progress to the semis.
The result also means that Anas failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the event, which will be held on Sunday, August 6. Anas had set a new national record of 45.32 seconds in the 400 metres at the Indian Grand Prix in New Delhi. His timing allowed him to qualify for the world championships, where the qualification mark was set at 45.50 seconds.
In doing so, he also surpassed the previous national record, which was also set by him, of 45.40 seconds at the Polish Athletics Championships in 2016. Back then, he had made the cut for the 2016 Rio Olympics with his impressive timing.
In the other big result emerging from the 400 metres event in London, South African Wayde Van Niekirk qualified for the semi-finals with a timing of 45.27 seconds. Despite the qualification however, this was far from the world record holder’s best of 43.62 seconds.