Long jumper Jeswin Aldrin was on Sunday cleared by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to take part in the upcoming World Championships despite failing to touch the stipulated mark in the two trials held earlier this month.
Aldrin was called for trials on July 4 and 8 and asked to jump close to 8.10m mark to take part in the July 15-24 World Championships in Eugene, USA. But, he could only clear 7.99m and 7.93m in the two trials held in Thiruvananthapuram and Patiala.
The AFI, however, decided to allow Aldrin to compete in the showpiece.
"AFI today decided, in consultation with the members of the Selection Committee, to include long jumper Jeswin Aldrin in the squad for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, after he jumped close to 8.00m in the trials held at NIS Patiala on Friday," the AFI said in a statement.
“We have decided to give him the chance to compete in the World Championships after he jumped 7.99m in the first trial and 7.93m in Patiala,” AFI President Adille Sumariwalla said.
Aldrin had breached the World Championships qualification mark of 8.22m during the Federation Cup in April but he was not named in the original Indian team on the ground that his performance had dropped consistently after that performance. He had 7.82m, 7.69m and 7.71m in the next three competitions.
Quarter-miler Aishwarya Mishra also appeared for the two trials on July 4 and 8 but failed to impress the AFI selectors. She clocked 53.15s and 53.80s respectively while the stipulated time was "close to 52s".
Aishwarya, who had evaded dope testing authorities in May, before resurfacing out of nowhere, was in the 22-member Indian athletics team announced on June 30, but subject to a trial and dope testing.
She had clocked 51.18 second during the Federation Cup in April, on the basis of which she had qualified for World Championships by breaching the entry standard of 51.35 second.
She disappeared after her Federation Cup performance and evaded dope testing authorities. She once again resurfaced before the National Inter-State Championships in Chennai in mid June and the AFI allowed her to compete only to get disqualified due to a false start in the 400m heats.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)