A day after the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) informed the Delhi High Court that Tejaswin Shankar, India’s national high jump record holder, would be included in the 2022 Commonwealth Games squad, the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) secretary general Rajeev Mehta stated that the high jumper’s name had not been accepted by the Commonwealth Games Working (CWG) Committee.

Shankar was at the High Court because his name was not on the list of 36 names chosen by the federation for the CWG squad.

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According to AFI’s counsel, one of the athletes was disqualified from the relay event, allowing Shankar to join the contingent.

“We had sent Tejaswin’s name yesterday, but we received a response yesterday (Wednesday) night from the Commonwealth Games organisers that his name was not accepted,” Mehta said.

“According to the rules, only a like-for-like replacement is permissible. So if we have withdrawn an athlete in one particular event, the replacement has to be in the same event,” he added.

As Adv Hrishikesh Baruah, appearing on behalf of the federation, informed the bench of Justice Yashwant Varma of the AFI’s decision, the bench directed him to immediately notify the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the Commonwealth Games authority of Shankar’s selection.

The court, however, kept the case pending, stating that the discrepancies in AFI’s selection process warrant further investigation to avoid “national embarrassment” in the future.

The court noted in the previous hearing that Shankar is the major contender for this year, with only two people above him having the best jumps in the world. He met the AFI’s qualification requirements.

The court stated that the federation was actively told to consider his participation in the selection meeting.

Despite having knowledge of Shankar’s potential and what he can bring to the Indian team at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, the CWG committee have decided to stick to its regular protocol of not including him in the squad and missing out on a very good chance of podium place in Birmingham.

The Story so far

The life of an athlete comprises a lot of sacrifices and discipline. A win or loss is more often than not decided by small margins. In this journey, every small pillar of support and motivation can do wonders in terms of their confidence and morale leading into a competition.

4 years worth of hard work and training to compete in the biggest stages takes up a lot of effort from their side and they expect the same from their coaching staff and the other authorities as well.

The New Delhi-based Shankar has been on a four-year athletics scholarship at Kansas State University in the United States since 2017. 

The petitioner argued in his plea that the AFI’s decision to exclude him from the CWG squad was arbitrary, illegal, and against the national interest. 

The upcoming Commonwealth Games 2022 brings another opportunity for India’s talent to shine all across the globe and uplift the standards of athletics in our nation. However, instances like these often make us think about the real ambitions and objectives of authorities.