Unusual Circumstances: 20-Year-Old Lalit Kumar Competes Solo in 100m Sprint as Rivals Withdraw

20-year-old Lalit Kumar went to the start in probably unusual circumstances, as he had no competition by his side.

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Finalists of 100mts Men were informed that Anti Doping officials would be collecting samples. Out of 8 finalists, only 1 showed up for the final. Cleaning sports is extremely important. Athletes should never resort to Doping. #cleansports #dopefreesports pic.twitter.com/gSqSaM27O2

— masterofnone (@parthgoswami84) September 26, 2023

Initially, of course, it was expected that eight athletes would go to the start, as it should be in the 100-meter sprint. However, shortly before the start, all seven of Kumar’s rivals suddenly withdrew from the 100m final. All athletes have reported problems with cramps or muscle strains.

The organizers of the competition, however, believe that the specific athletes made the decision not to go to the start after the information about the arrival of the Indian Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) in this competition spread.

Sandeep Mehta, the organizer of the particular competition, stated in a conversation with “Reuters” that several throwing athletes also suddenly withdrew their participation.

“All of them should do anti-doping tests anyway. We have given information to NADA about the athletes who missed out. If any of these athletes test positive for doping, we will disqualify them from the competition in Delhi and also recommend similar action to the Athletics Federation of India,” Mehta said. .

Doping is a significant problem in India. In May of this year, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published a summary of the countries with the most frequent violations of anti-doping rules. India ranked second in this “top” after Russia, which has competed in the Olympic Games under a neutral flag since 2018 due to violations of anti-doping rules.