Triple jumper Renjith Maheshwary's dismal show at the London Games on Tuesday meant the Kerala jumper only repeated what he did at last year's World Championships in Daegu - committing three consecutive foul jumps at the qualifying stage.
Maheshwary's pathetic show, after preparing in Italy for the last few months with Russian coach Evegeniy Shivili and training partner Ankit Sharma, has now raised questions about his participation at the Olympics.
Renjith, the national record holder at 17.07m and Delhi CWG bronze winner, had performed badly at the Beijing Olympics too where he came up with a best of 15.77m. Later, he tested positive for a stimulant but was let off with a six-month suspension.
"Renjith takes off way behind the board and this was the case even when he won the bronze medal at the Delhi Games. But today his third attempt looked as if he was deliberately commiting a foul," a veteran coach said.
In fact, Maheshwary was one of the three athletes who were asked to prove their fitness by the selection committee of Athletics Federation of India (AFI) last month. The fitness tests apparently turned out to be a formality with the AFI forced to rely on reports sent by the coaches of Renjith and Mayookha Johny, who was training in Germany, with only marathon runner Ram Singh Yadav proving his fitness before an AFI panel.
Promotion for Vijay The Army will promote shooter Vijay Kumar, India's only silver medallist at the London Olympics so far, to a Subedar-Major as well as announce a reward. This comes after 26-year-old made his unhappiness clear about 'not getting his due.'