5 Reasons Why Inderjeet Singh Was a Serious Medal Hope in Rio

India’s shot-putter Inderjeet Singh failed a dope test on Tuesday morning.

Inderjeet Singh. (Photo: PTI)

Inderjeet Singh was the first Indian track and field athlete to qualify for the Rio Olympics. As of Tuesday, he’s the second Indian sportsperson to fail a dope test.

Much like wrestler Narsingh Yadav, shot-putter Inderjeet too was a medal hopeful in Rio, based on his current title as the Asian Champion in his event.

Now even as he fights his case and goes in for a ‘B sample’ test of his blood, Inderjeet’s training regime has been disrupted enough for his preparations to take a hit. Will he be able to bounce back and forge ahead to Rio, the next few weeks will tell. But for now, here’s a reminder of just what hopes were riding on Inderjeet’s Rio ticket.

• Inderjeet achieved the qualification mark for the Games with a throw of 20.65m at 19th Federation Cup in May of 2015.
• Inderjeet is in red-hot form having won a gold medal in the Asian Grand Prix in Bangkok in 2015 with a throw of 19.85 metres.
• Soon after, he bettered his previous record and a won gold by throwing a distance of 20.41 metres to become the new Asian Champion in the event.
• At the 2015 Summer Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea, Inderjeet won the gold medal and was the sole Indian to grab one in the tournament. He threw a distance of 20.27 metres.
• His performance has kept on improving in the past year and he was also the first Indian track and field athlete to qualify for the Rio Games.