A shocking incident unfolded during the women’s 400m hurdles at the ongoing Interstate 2026, which also serves as an Asian Games qualifier.
Harshitha, representing Tamil Nadu in Heat 1 (Lane 8), clocked a personal best of 1:01.03, finishing third in her heat and initially qualifying comfortably for the final.
However, after clearing the fourth hurdle, she found that the fifth hurdle in her lane was missing. Confused, she crossed over and cleared the hurdle in Lane 7 before completing the race.
It was later discovered that Lane 8 had only nine hurdles instead of the required ten. nnis Sports reached out to technical officials at the venue. They confirmed that a protest had been lodged but declined to provide any further clarification.
According to a source, Harshitha has now been asked to run alone at 9:30 AM tomorrow and must clock under 1:02.00 to qualify for the final.
This raises a serious question: If the error was on the part of the technical officials, why should the athlete bear the consequences by having to run three races in two days?
Running alone is vastly different from competing alongside other athletes. If she fails to match her earlier time, should she be penalized for an error that was not hers?