India’s leading female 400m sprinter MR Poovamma has left the national camp in Patiala due to injury, a source said late Sunday evening.
“Due to injury, Poovamma did not participate in the final selection trial held for today [Sunday] Here in Patiala to select two women athletes for the mixed 4x400m relay Indian team,” the source told IANS.
Fielding a strong 4x400m mixed relay team could be a major setback for the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) at the Tokyo Olympic Games, starting July 23.
Despite having good medical facilities at the National Institute of Sports, Poovamma has opted to go back to her home state of Karnataka for treatment.
The veteran runner has been a consistent 400m runner since the start of the season. She had finished second in the National Inter-State Athletics Championships held in Patiala last month with a timing of 53.54 seconds.
AFI president Adil Sumariwala was not available for comment.
India’s mixed team qualified for the Olympics during the 2019 Doha World Championships on the basis of being a finalist.
The men’s 4x400m relay has qualified for the Olympics, while the women’s 4x400m relay team failed to make the cut before the June 29 deadline set by World Athletics to meet the qualification criteria.
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