Hurdler forced to re-run solo after lane error
Tamil Nadu's R Harshitha was compelled to re-run the women's 400m hurdles alone on Saturday after race officials mistakenly placed only nine hurdles in her lane instead of the mandatory ten. The 21-year-old finished the re-run with a time of 1 minute 02.54 seconds, 1.51 seconds slower than her original heat time, and failed to qualify for the eight-athlete final at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships.
On Friday, Harshitha had finished third in Heat 1 with a time of 1:01.03 and was initially deemed to have qualified. However, officials later discovered that Lane 8, where she ran, lacked the fifth hurdle due to a setup error.
Confusion during the race
After clearing the fourth hurdle, Harshitha found no hurdle in her lane and quickly crossed into Lane 7 to clear the hurdle there before returning to her original lane. Karnataka's Megha Munavallimath, far behind, avoided collision. Harshitha later lodged a verbal complaint about the missing hurdle.
“I was confused that there was no hurdle in my lane after the fourth one. I had to take a decision in a split second and so crossed over to the hurdle in my left lane. After that I ran in my (original) lane and completed the race,” Harshitha told PTI. “Even the race officials told me that I had committed a mistake. I am surprised what fault have I committed.”
World Athletics Rule invoked
Officials cited World Athletics Competition Rule 18.7, which allows the race referee to order a re-run if circumstances demand justice. The rule states: “If, in the opinion of the appropriate Referee, circumstances arise at any competition such that justice demands that any event or any part of an event should be contested again, they shall have authority to declare the event or any part of an event void and that it shall be held again.”
Harshitha re-ran alone at 9:30 am on Saturday but clocked 1:02.54, missing the final. She took the outcome sportingly: “I am disappointed but what can I do now? I could not qualify. But it's alright, I will do better in the upcoming events like the National Open.”
AFI admits error, compares to Neeraj Chopra case
An Athletics Federation of India (AFI) official, speaking anonymously, admitted the goof-up but called it a human error. “I agree those officials who are looking after the race should have avoided the error. The people who are involved in taking and bringing the hurdles must have forgotten to put one hurdle in that lane,” the official said. The official noted that men's hurdles heats preceded the women's event, and reducing hurdle height may have caused confusion.
The official compared the incident to Neeraj Chopra's re-throw at the 2022 Asian Games after a technical glitch with the electronic distance measurement system. Chopra accepted the re-throw and won gold with 88.88m. “The better timing in her original heat race could be because she covered less distance by crossing into the left lane to clear the hurdle there,” the official added.
