On the first day of the Paris Olympics 2024, excitement was high worldwide, including for Bollywood actor Anupam Kher and former Puducherry Lieutenant Governor and police officer Kiran Bedi. They shared footage of a 4x400 relay event, suggesting that 'team India had qualified for the finals of the Games', when in reality, the relay events are scheduled much later in the Paris 2024 calendar. However, this isn't the first time, this exact same video has gone viral on the internet. (More Sports News)
Given that the video of India relay team shared by Anupam Kher and Kiran Bedi was irrelevant to be shared on the first day of the Paris Olympics, it quickly went viral. Fans closely following the 2024 Summer Games found it noteworthy enough to criticize it.
This is the post shared by Kher on X, stating, "India in the finals! Jai Hind!" along with a hashtag for the Olympic Games.
Back in June, the same video appeared online when many inlcuing the Indian fashion photographer Atul Kasbekar, with nearly 300,000 followers, shared it on his Instagram handle.
He claimed that the Indian women's and men's teams had qualified for the Paris Olympics at the World Athletics Relay in the Bahamas on May 6, 2024. However, the video was actually from the World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary, in August 2023—the same footage later shared by Kher and Bedi on Day 1 of the Paris Games.
On her X account, Kiran Bedi wrote, "India makes it to the finals. Have a look," and included a hashtag for the Olympic Games.
The Men’s 4x400m relay qualification rounds will be held on August 9, and the final round will take place on August, 10.
The Indian men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games by finishing second in their respective second-round heats at the World Athletics Relays held in Nassau, Bahamans in May 2024.
India's women's team of Rupal Chaudhary, M R Poovamma, Jyothika Sri Dandi, and Subha Venkatesan, qualified for the Paris Games by recording a time of 3 minutes and 29.35 seconds in Nassau. They finished second in heat number one, behind Jamaica (3:28.54).
India's men's relay squad, consisting of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Muhammed Ajmal, Arokia Rajiv, and Amoj Jacob clocked a total of 3 minutes and 3.23 seconds to finish second in their heat, trailing behind the USA, which clocked 2:59.95.
