Single runner competes in 100m after being arrested for doping in India

Lalit Kumar (right) was the only athlete to line up for the 100m final after a drug arrest, as evidenced by photograph above

An athletics competition in India ended in farce after the 100m final saw only one competitor compete and the steeplechaser continued to race across the finish line while being pursued by anti-doping officials.

According to the report According to the Indian Express, several winners also skipped the awards ceremony out of fear that they would be asked to undergo tests during the Delhi State Athletics Championships.

The official said the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) arrived to conduct tests at the event on Tuesday, resulting in a 50 percent reduction in the number of participants for the third and final day of competition.

The visit took place the day after , as a video was posted on social media showing a toilet at the capital's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium littered with syringes and packets of the performance-enhancing drug erythropoietin (EPO).

Preparations for the Delhi State Athletics meet are in full swing. Video from JLN Stadium, which also houses the National Anti-Doping Office.
🎥The clip was sent by the coach. pic.twitter.com/W7RivSDJ7r

— Andrew (@AndrewAmsan) September 23, 2023

“The odd withdrawal is understandable, but when seven runners withdraw, you know something is fishy.” , Sandeep Mehta, secretary of the Delhi Athletics Association (DAA), told Reuters news agency.

“There are also some throwers who disappeared before the competition and all of them should be checked by NADA. We are sharing with them the details of the escaped athletes.

“If any of them test negative, we will ban them from Delhi and advise the Athletics Federation of India to do the same.

“On the second day of the competition, we wrote a letter to NADA asking them to come for testing. They have every right to check those who are missing.”

Indian sports have been rocked by several doping scandals in recent times, and according to a report published by the World Anti-Doping Agency this year, which stated that it had the second-highest number of doping violations after Russia at the end of 2020. Positive tests were reported at the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, with a total of 45 athletes suspended this year.

Lalit Kumar ended up being the only athlete in the 100m final after seven others sprinters withdrew, reportedly due to muscle tension and cramps.

«I was really looking forward to competing with the best athletes, but no one came,» Kumar told the Indian Express. “Everyone was afraid to get tested. As an athlete, I feel very hurt and disappointed.”

It was reported that during a junior steeplechase competition, a girl continued to run even after crossing the finish line and a doping control officer had to chase her to collect a sample.

Under 16 boys kick the ball . There was also only one participant in the throw.

“Some athletes did not even come to collect their medals,” Sunny Joshua, president of the Delhi State Athletics Association, told the Indian Express.

Kumar will be awarded the medal and a certificate, although he ran alone in the final.

“He competed with others in the races; It’s not his fault that the others didn’t come to the finals,” Mehta said.

In August, sprinter Dati Chand was banned from competition for four years after failing two doping tests and a 14-year test. summer swimmer was suspended.

PSM Chandran, a sports medicine expert, said «EPO, which increases the blood's ability to carry oxygen, is readily available without a prescription» and that athletes had not thought about the possible health consequences . «Athletes are not worried about side effects,» Chandran told news agency AFP. «They just want to win a medal at any cost.»

Telegraph Sport has contacted both the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Athletics Integrity Unit, which was set up by World Athletics to provide independent oversight. anti-doping, for comment.

“WADA is aware of these reports and we have concerns about what is being alleged,” a spokesman told The Telegraph. “We are continuing to look into this matter, including by contacting the relevant Indian authorities.”