JOIN USMuhammad Anas broke the national record for a third time but missed out on a 400M men's medal while Hima Das qualified for the women's final in the same event with a personal best on a bitter-sweet day for Indian track and field athletes at the Commonwealth Games here.
"I am proud of myself," declared a panting Anas after clocking a personal best of 45.31sec to finish fourth in the race, improving his personal best by 0.01 second.
It was first time that an Indian was competing in the 400M final at the Games since the legendary Milkha Singh in 1958.
However, Anas' effort was not enough for a medal, falling short by just 0.2 seconds, finishing behind winner Isaac Makwala (44.35), Baboloki Thebe (45.09) and Javon Francis (45.11).
"The rain affected my rhythm because the track became heavy and took more effort out of me. The track was spongy. It's hard on the hamstring. It was cold as well which makes the body stiff," Anas said.
"But I have the confidence that I can do much better at this level. My body tightened up a bit today. I expected to come third but it's alright I am glad with what I managed. I will now prepare for the Asian Games," he added.
"I will just go and sleep now because in the last semifinal I gave my everything."
In the women's 400M, the 18-year-old Hima qualified for the final with a personal best of 51.53.
She had finished third in her semifinal, taking off 0.44 off her previous personal best, but eventually made the cut as the seventh fastest among eight finalists.