By the time Lalit Kumar crouched at the starting blocks for the men’s 100m final at the Delhi state athletics meet on Tuesday, the 20-year-old was only ever going to finish first.
All seven of Kumar’s opponents withdrew from the race at the capital’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium citing cramp or muscle strains.
Organizers said they suspect the athletes, along with numerous other competitors on the third and final day of the competition, pulled out after getting wind of the imminent arrival of officials from the Indian National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
Photo: AFP
The visit came a day after a video shared on social media appeared to show a restroom in the stadium littered with syringes and packets of the performance-enhancing drug erythropoietin.
“An odd withdrawal is understandable, but when seven runners withdraw, you know something is fishy,” Delhi Athletics Association secretary Sandeep Mehta said yesterday.
“There are some throwers as well who disappeared before competition and all of them should be tested by NADA. We are sharing with them details of the athletes who fled,” Mehta said. “If any of them return adverse results, we will ban them in Delhi and will recommend the Athletics Federation of India does the same.”
Mehta also said that some athletes from the meet did not turn up to collect their medals, raising more doping suspicions.
India ranked second behind Russia in anti-doping rule contraventions in a World Anti-Doping Agency report published in May.
Kumar, who was hailed on social media for being an “honest athlete in a dirty sport,” was dismayed at how the competition panned out.
“I was really looking forward to running against the best athletes, but nobody turned up,” he told the Indian Express newspaper. “Everyone was scared of getting tested. As an athlete, I feel very hurt and let down.”
The Delhi Athletics Association said it would award Kumar a medal and certificate even though he was the lone runner in the final.
“He did compete with others in the heats, and it’s not his fault that opponents disappeared before the final,” Mehta said. “We believe it would be wrong to deny him his medal and the certificate, and he will have them soon.”
In the junior steeplechase event, a girl continued to run even after crossing the finish line and a doping control officer had to chase her to get her sample.
The under-16 boys hammer throw also had only one participant.
Additional reporting by AFP
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
Former Australian motorcycle gang member-turned-golfer Ryan Peake, who served a lengthy jail term for assault, yesterday produced a “life-changing” maiden win to qualify for The Open Championship. Peake held his nerve for a one-stroke victory at the New Zealand Open, earning him a berth at the major in Portrush, Northern Ireland, in July, pending clearance to travel as a convicted criminal. The 31-year-old from Perth celebrated animatedly and was showered with champagne by friends on the 18th green of the Millbrook Resort course near Queenstown after a redemption story rarely seen in the refined sport of golf. Peake held back tears as he
RSS