AFI rejects Olympian Jyothi’s entry for National Federation Championships

Olympian Jyothika Sri Dandi, the country’s second-fastest woman quartermiler last year, will miss next week’s National Federation Senior Athletics Championships here after her entry for the event was rejected.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had made it clear, through its circular, that athletes would have to participate in at least one regional competition or Indian Grand Prix to qualify for the National Federation Championships in Kochi.

Jyothika did not compete in any meet this season and her entry figures in the AFI’s list of rejected athletes who are not allowed to participate in the Federation Championships.

“Results not valid (old performance),” explains the AFI while rejecting Jyothika’s entry in the list.

It is not clear as of now whether Jyothika, from Andhra Pradesh, would be allowed to compete as a special case.

The 24-year-old ran in the women’s 4x400m relay at last year’s Paris Olympics, was a member of the gold-winning Indian mixed relay team at the 2024 Asian Relays in Thailand and was also a part of the national women’s relay team at the 2024 World Relays in the Bahamas.

The event, scheduled to take place in Kochi, is also the qualification meet for next month’s Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea.