Triple jumper Renjith Maheshwary spent considerable time at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday evening. Part of the Arjuna awardees contingent that joked and mingled during the dress rehearsal ceremony, Maheshwary was looking ahead to the honour.
On Saturday though, Maheshwary’s name was excluded from the final list after news of a failed dope test in 2008 emerged. Under the eligibility rule (4.2), a sportsperson found to have tested positive for use of drugs banned by the International Olympic Committee in any laboratory accredited by the IOC is not eligible for an Arjuna Award.
The development left the sports ministry and the Athletics federation of India officials embarrassed.
Sports minister Jitendra Singh was quick to order an inquiry saying it was an “unfortunate incident”, while sports secretary P.K. Deb said Maheshwary was picked for the award following a “clean chit” from the AFI. It is, however, learnt that Maheshwary failed a dope test during the National Open Athletics Championships at Kochi in September 2008, which was kept under wraps by the AFI. “At that time, the National Dope Testing Laboratory was not accredited by Wada and we took the sample and sent it to the SAI laboratory,” an AFI official was quoted as saying. Maheshwary was suspended for three months, even though a dope offence calls for a six-month ban.
Said AFI president Adille Sumariwala: “I spoke to Maheshwary and he said he had taken some medicines and it may be a result of that. We have also put in a request to the Sports Authority of India for test details, but even they don’t seem to have them.”
Maheshwary, who was in the capital along with his wife, sisters and children, said he had been asked to wait till Monday.
The 27-year-old had clinched bronze in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and also bagged golds in the 2007 and 2013 Asian Championships.