PM Modi to participate in Veer Bal Diwas programme on tomorrow
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in Veer Bal Diwas, a nationwide celebration honouring children as the foundation of India’s future, on Thursday at Bharat Mandapam here.
Clearing the air on India’s track sensation Amlan Borgohain’s participation at the upcoming Asian Games, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adille Sumariwalla on Monday announced that the Assam sprinter will be included in the Indian contingent after initially missing out of the list.
Borgohain, the 200m national record holder was initially not included in the 65-member athletics team for the Asian Games issued by the sports ministry a few days ago but Sumariwalla maintained that it was because the athlete could not meet the qualifying time set by the AFI for the Hangzhou Games, set to start from September 23.
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“Yes he was not in the first list as he had not qualified, but his name will appear in the final list,” the AFI president said on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) while replying to a tweet.
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The confusion over Borgohain’s name missing from the initial list was because the sprinter, despite winning gold in the men’s 200m race during the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar in June which served as the selection event for the Asian Games, failed to clock the AFI’s qualification standard. His performance of 20.71 seconds fell short of the Asian Games qualification time of 20.61 seconds.
Borgohain, who holds the men’s 200m national record of 20.52 seconds, could only breach the qualification standard at the World University Games held in Chengdu, China in August, which was past the cut-off period, leading to demands for justice for the athlete in his home state of Assam.
But on Monday, the AFI president’s tweet put an end to the confusion over Borgohain’s participation at the continental Games.
The Statesman also reached out to Lakhya Konwar, the vice president of the Assam Olympic Association and a senior office bearer of the AFI, who assured that the sprinter will be included in the list.
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