Tejaswin to compete at CWG, his late entry finally cleared

NEW DELHI: Indian high jumper Tejaswin Shankar was on Friday cleared to compete at the Commonwealth Games after the organisers accepted his entry on the request of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), ending a month-long drama surrounding his participation.

Tejaswin’s late entry was initially rejected, but the IOA has now received confirmation from the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and the Birmingham CWG organisers about acceptance of his entry post a Delegate Registration Meeting (DRM).

“Mr. Tejaswin Shankar’s entry has been approved by the CGF and accordingly accepted by the Sports Entry Department of Commonwealth Games Birmingham 2022 during the DRM,” read a communication from the IOA to the AFI.

The Birmingham 2022 organisers have made a U-turn as they had informed the IOA on July 7 that “late athlete replacements (LAR) will only be permitted to compete in events in which the original athlete was entered”.

MV Jilna, who was named in the initial 37-member athletics team as 4x100m relay runner by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) but was later withdrawn to stick to 36 players, has also been re-included. The AFI officials had said that Jilna would be brought back in place of S Dhanalakshmi, who was caught for doping a few days ago.