Sudha Singh won gold at Asian Championships in the women’s 3000m steeplechase event. (Source: PTI)
Athletics Federation of India have firmly ruled out making any changes to the team named for the World Championships in London which will come as a blow to Sudha Singh (women’s 3000m steeplechase), Ajoy Kumar Saroj (men’s 1500m) and P U Chitra (women’s 1500m) who were eligible due told medals at the Asian Championships. The athletics body said their performances were not good enough for the marquee events.
AFI president Adille Sumariwalla said their performance during the Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar were even worse than the junior national record. “We are not going to change the squad, it is final. The AFI has the final authority to send an athlete or not even if they qualify. The IAAF rules clearly say that,” he told PTI. “Their performances were far below World Championships entry standards and are even worse than the junior national record. World Championships is not an exposure tour or a minor competition. The best of the world compete there and we cannot send athletes who are not upto certain standards,” he added.
As per the rules, gold medallists in continental championships get an automatic berth for the World Championship. Another method to qualify is by meeting IAAF’s qualifying mark. But IAAF’s rules stipulate that national federations have the power to not send a continental event winner.
AFI Selection Committee Chairman Gurbachan Singh Randhawa has said that the performance of the three dropped athletes were not close to IAAF’s entry standard for the World Championships which forced the body to not pick them. Chitra, athlete from Kerala, knocked on the doors of Kerala High Court on the issue, but AFI said it won’t budge under pressure.
