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 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.