Kolkata: Ava Khatua's exclusion from the Olympic team announced by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) recently raised many eyebrows. The dream of landing in the biggest event of the sports field may remain a dream as of now.
A few days ago, Ava was omitted from the Indian Olympic contingent and it triggered a discussion amongst the sports fraternity. The reason behind her omission is still unclear but it has something to do with the World Athletics — the governing body of athletics in the world.
At the end of the cut-off date for the Olympics, Ava rose to number 23 in the world rankings and secured an Olympic quota. At the time she was peaking, she left for Turkey to prepare with other athletes in the country.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) announced the 117-man squad for the Paris Olympics on Wednesday which didn't have Ava Khatua's name. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) sent names of 30 to the IOA for the Olympics. Ava is the only one left out of that list. No reason has been furnished by IOA in this regard.
IOA chief PT Usha did not respond to calls made by ETV Bharat. AFI chief Adil Sumariwala also did not give a clear answer. He replied on WhatsApp. In the response via WhatsApp, he indirectly put the onus on the International Governing Body of Athletics.
"Ava's name has been dropped from World Athletics. We are talking about it. However, it is not the time to say publicly what has been discussed," he said. Federation sources say the World Athletics does not detail the reasons for an athlete's exclusion.
Ava has also been tight-lipped on the issue. She has gone through many ups and downs in life to secure the Paris berth. Despite the family's extreme grief, the Olympic clearance gave her the courage to realise her dream.
Although a resident of Narayangar in West Midnapore, she played for Maharashtra for her job. Most recently, Ava set a national record in the shot put at the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar. The 18.41m throw not only rewrote a national record but also brought her into the top 25 in the world rankings. She also won gold in the recent inter-state meet. This performance was not enough to receive direct Olympic qualification. However, consistent performance led to gradual improvement.
In the end, Ava got the license of Paris. On July 11, she went to Spala in Turkey to join the rest of the athletes who received clearance for the Games. She was supposed to go directly to the French capital from there.
