A day before the heats of the 4x400 metre women’s relay at the Asian Athletics Championships here, the Indian runners are uncertain over the final make-up of the team. Anu Mariam Jones, Anil Da Thomas, Sarita and Priyanka Mondal, who were originally scheduled to compete in the event, are now clueless if they will get to run.
A controversy arose after Ashwini Akkunji, the dope-tainted double Asian Games gold medallist whose ban ended on Thursday, visited the Complex and appeared for a trial. Interestingly, Ashwini was not part of the original Indian contingent and got her accreditation card only on Thursday. Priyanka Panwar, whose ban has also ended, appeared for trials too. The move has clearly upset the runners.
“Why have they called us here if they don’t want us to run in the final? They held trials for two straight days and we still don’t know if we will run?” asked an Indian runner.
The rules allow the federation to name the team an hour before the finals.