Nirmala fails to qualify for 400m semifinals

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 13 (IANS) Nirmala Sheoran failed to qualify for the semifinals of the women's 400 metre athletics event at the Rio Olympics here on Saturday.

The Haryana athlete clocked 53.03 seconds in the Round 1 Heat 1 event at the Olympic Stadium, to be placed sixth among seven athletes in her heat.

She finished 44th among 57 athletes in the overall standings.

The first two in each of the eight heats and the next eight fastest runners advance to the semifinals, enabling 24 athletes to go through.