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Athletics

Abha Khatua's mysterious omission raises questions aplenty

Within a week, the Indian shot putter went from an Olympic hopeful to obscurity.

Abha Khatuas mysterious omission raises questions aplenty
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Abha Khatua celebrates after setting a new national record in women's shot put at the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar on May 13, 2024. (Photo credit: AFI)

By

Sudipta Biswas

Updated: 18 July 2024 7:00 AM GMT

When Abha Khatua won gold at the National Inter-State Championships, she had given herself a good shot of making the Paris cut. And on July 3, her rankings ensured that she was heading to the Paris Olympics.

A mere ten-days later, on July 13, in a dramatic turn of events, the shot putter's name had gone missing from the World Athletics' list of Paris Olympics participants.

Naturally, confusion and concerns ensued.

On Wednesday, when the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) released its official list of athletes, Abha's omission was confirmed, ending the national record holder's dream of representing India at the Paris Olympics.

Interestingly, no nodal authority, neither World Athletics nor their Indian counterparts, the IOA and the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), issued any formal statement about her eviction from Paris 2024.

Following Abha's omission, the strength of India's athletics contingent came down to 29 from the previously announced 30 as India's total contingent strength stays at 117, approved by the sports ministry.

Why was Abha excluded?

Abha had qualified for Paris 2024, which was supposed to be her maiden Olympic Games, through the World Rankings route on July 3 following a slew of outstanding performances in domestic events.

Born and raised in Narayangarh town in West Bengal’s West Midnapur district, Abha, who represents Maharashtra in national-level competitions, left India on July 11 to train in Spala, Turkey, the base camp for India's Paris Olympics-bound athletics contingent.

But the next day, her name went missing from the World Athletics' list of Paris Olympics participants.

The incident leaves the door ajar for a host of speculations.

The Indian contingent for the Paris Olympics will be accompanied by 140 support staff, taking the contingent strength to 257.

At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, India had sent a 258-member contingent, with 122 athletes competing in the Games.

Did Abha fail a DSD test?

Abha, on her part, remains noncommittal. And so does World Athletics.

The governing body has a history of providing no specific reasons for athletes' selection and exclusion from the sporting spectacle.

Though there was no official statement from AFI about being intimated by World Athletics over the news of Abha's exclusion, a new Times of India report offer an explanation about the 'most likely reason'.

Per the report, Abha did not fail a dope test, and neither was this a case of an illicit eviction.

Citing sources, the report pointed at a possible failure to meet DSD regulations - "The most likely reason for Abha's exit just days before the start of the Olympic Games could be because she failed to meet World Athletics' DSD regulation."

Under the World Athletics guidelines, female athletes with differences in sexual development (DSDs) must lower their level of testosterone to below 2.5 nmol/L for at least six months to get the nod to compete at an event. This can be determined medically or surgically.

However, in the absence of an official statement from World Athletics, the matter is mere speculation.

Olympic dreams in tatters

Abha was looking forward to competing at the Paris Olympics despite the death of her sister-in-law (brother's wife). But ten days before the curtain raiser for the Olympics, that dream seems to have fallen to pieces.

Until April this year, Abha was not in the picture for the Paris Olympics qualification. However, her national record-breaking (18.41m) performance at the Federation Cup in April in Bhubaneswar put her in contention.

Despite the national record, she was still far from qualifying for the Games.

However, with a gold medal-winning throw of 17.53m at the National Inter-State Championships, the final qualifying event for Indian athletes, in Panchkula, Haryana, she leapfrogged to 21st in the world rankings with 1059 points.

Since the Inter-State was an B-category event unlike the Federation Cup, which is an F-category event, it helped Abha accumulate crucial points to make the cut.

32 athletes will compete in the women's shot put event in Paris in 2024.

Fifteen earned direct qualification by throwing beyond the qualifying mark of 18.80m, while 17 shot putters made the cut through world rankings.

Last year, Abha was not included in India's Hangzhou Asian Games athletics team despite breaching the 18m mark twice in less than three months. AFI, on its part, did not offer any explanation at the time as well.

This latest development is surely a debacle for AFI and leaves all concerned with more questions than answers.

Abha's non-inclusion and the saga shrouded in secrecy is yet another instance of lack of transparency, a matter of constant worry in Indian athletics.

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