Athlete Disqualified After Officials' Error in 400m Hurdles at Inter-State Championships
At the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, Tamil Nadu hurdler R Harshitha was disqualified after a technical error left the fifth hurdle missing in her lane during the women's 400m hurdles heat. She crossed lanes to clear the hurdle, which officials deemed a violation, leading to her disqualification despite a qualifying time of 1:01.03. Ordered to re-run the race alone under challenging conditions, Harshitha clocked 1:02.54 and failed to qualify for the final, prompting criticism over the handling of the incident.