NEW DELHI, Sept 27 (Reuters) - By the time Lalit Kumar crouched at the starting blocks for the men's 100 metres final at the Delhi state athletics meet on Tuesday, the 20-year-old was only ever going to finish first.
However, organisers suspect they pulled out after getting wind of the imminent arrival of officials from India's anti-doping agency (NADA).
"An odd withdrawal is understandable, but when seven runners withdraw, you know something is fishy," Sandeep Mehta, secretary of the Delhi Athletics Association (DAA), told Reuters on Wednesday.
Mehta also confirmed that some athletes from the meet did not turn up to collect their medals, raising more doping suspicions.
The country ranked second behind Russia in anti-doping rule violations in a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report published in May.
Persons:
Lalit Kumar crouched, Kumar's, Sandeep Mehta, NADA, Mehta, Vimal Anand, WADA, Kumar, it's, Amlan Chakraborty, Peter Rutherford
Organizations:
Jawaharlal Nehru, cramp, Delhi Athletics Association, Reuters, Athletics Federation of, Doping Agency, Indian Express, Thomson
Locations:
DELHI, Delhi, Athletics Federation of India, India, Russia, New Delhi