NEW DELHI: Quarter-miler Mohammad Anas Yahiya scripted history at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2018, as he became became only the second Indian man to qualify for the final of a track event, since the legendary Milkha Singh.
Yahiya’s feats a historical one indeed as he fall short by just 0.2 seconds behind the 3rd place and missed a bronze medal at the Men’s 400m Final at the Gold Coast CWG2018 here on Tuesday.
He pulled off a stunning performance by clocking 45.31 seconds in which is less than what the field player Milkha Singh had clocked up.
The ‘Flying Sikh’ won a gold medal in the 440 yards race with a time of 46.6 seconds at Cardiff in 1958 which made him the first gold medallist from independent India at the Commonwealth Games.
Since last 60 years, no runner has managed to reach the final stage of the Games and Yahiya was the first athlete from India to reach the finals and registered a national record.
The 23 year-old athlete was born in Nilamel, a small village in Kerala didn’t actually hail from a family big in sports but his mother Sheena always knew it was in his blood.
“I knew it was in their blood. Even I was an athlete in school. Do you want to see my certificates? I used to go to meets when I was in school. But then, I had to stop when I got into college. In those days, women did not do these things,” Yahiya’s mother Sheena said in an interview with The New Indian Express back in 2016.
Yahiya clocked 45.44 seconds in the semis. Here is the clip:
#Indian @muhammedanasyah will be in action at 5.18pm(IST) in 400m final of #GC2018Athletics Here's clip of 💃SF-3 yesterday 4 all who missed it✌"Look how well the Indian is running" #CommentatorShock😃 All d best Anas @GC2018 Shock him again
Thnks @SonyLIV
@ioaindia @Media_SAI pic.twitter.com/thDz9zLmIO— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) April 10, 2018
Goosebumps moment to witness @muhammedanasyah Anas an Indian at the 400m finals! Yest he became only the second Indian to reach the finals of the 400m track event at the CWG after the legendary #MilkhaSingh! Today, coming tantalizingly close to a bronze medal Anas finished 4th!!! pic.twitter.com/YN211yRra5
— Deepthi Bopaiah (@DeepthiBopaiah) April 10, 2018
Lost out on ONE 🥉; won a 1⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣ hearts!#MuhammedAnasYahiya is without a medal, finishing just 0.2 sec behind the 3rd place in #GC2018Athletics Men's 400m Finals. But made sure he took back home a new #NationalRecord & #TeamIndia's pride! #GC2018
👍👏🙏 pic.twitter.com/h5QtO3x9gK— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) April 10, 2018