National Open 400m Championships: Aspiring athletes furnish fake certificates for registration, Athletics Federation of India reject entries 

Over a half-a-dozen aspiring athletes furnished fake certificates to register for the 3rd National Open 400m Championships. The event is scheduled to be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on October 11 and 12. All entries without valid documents were rejected, said an official associated with screening the entry forms.

While screening the entry forms, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has rejected over 50 entries. The athletes have failed to furnish proper documents to meet the entry standards set to compete in the next week’s 3rd National Open 400m Championships. Apart from fake certificates, several athletes failed to submit valid proof of performance.

An official associated with the setup of the national competition in Delhi, told Sportskeeda:

“After screening the entry forms it was found that 50 athletes haven’t submitted proper documents mandatory to compete at the 3rd National Open 400m Championships being organised in Delhi on October 11 and 12."

Several key athletes are set to skip the National Open 400m Championships

According to the entry list, members of the national men’s 4x400m relay team that competed at the Tokyo Olympic Games are skipping the competition. India's national team consisting of Muhammed Anas, Noah Nirmal Tom, Rajiv Arokia and Amoj Jacob clocked 3:00.25 seconds to finish fourth in their heats at the Tokyo Olympic Games. It was national as well as Asian record in the men’s 4x400m relay.

Even the top 400m female runners, like Priya Mohan's name, are missing from the list of competitors for the next week’s national 400m championships. In the absence of India’s top runners, athletes on the fringes will get a chance to establish themselves.

The entry standard for men’s 400m is 49 seconds while it is 50 seconds for the under-20 boys’ group. For u-18 boys’ group, entry standard is 53.50 secs. There is no entry standard for u-16 boys’ group.

In the women’s section, entry standard is 56 seconds. For under-20 girls’ the entry standard is 59 seconds while it is 1:06.00 seconds for u-18 girls’ group. There is no entry standard for u-16 girls’ section.

“The AFI has set minimum criteria to avail the participation certificate in each of the events. Those athletes failing to achieve the minimum qualification mark in the national open 400m championships will not be issued participation certificates,” said an official of the AFI.