Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has decided to prune down the number of track and field participants in the upcoming Glasgow Commonwealth Games from the original 41 to 33, leaving out controversial triple jumper Renjith Maheswary and the six-member men's 4x100m relay team.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had already released the names of 224 Indian athletes to take part in the July 23-August 3 Glasgow Games, but with the reduction of members in the athletics team, the total number of participants will now be 216.
Interestingly, 2010 Delhi CWG women's discus throw silver medallist Harwant Kaur's name was included in the list of Indian participants cleared by Sports Ministry and released by the IOA. 34-year-old Harwant has not taken part in any event for the last two years, her last participation being in the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in June 2012.
Her name though is not in the final list of 33.
Dutee Chand, who reportedly underwent a gender test on the directives of Sports Authority of India, also found a place in the 33-member athletics team.
"We have 33 Indian athletes taking part in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Renjith Maheswary is not there in the team and we have also pulled out the six-member men's 4x100m relay team due to injury and also due to performance related issues," AFI Secretary C K Valson told PTI.
Valson was not forthcoming when asked how Harwant Kaur's name was there in the list.
