India's athletes lost all hope on Wednesday of competing under the national flag at the Winter Olympics after the country's suspended Olympic association said it would hold elections two days after the Games open in Sochi.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) will hold a poll to elect new leaders on February 9, a senior source told AFP, meaning luge medal hope Shiva Keshavan and three other competitors will be classed as independents, not as Indians.
The International Olympic ..
India's athletes lost all hope on Wednesday of competing under the national flag at the Winter Olympics after the country's suspended Olympic association said it would hold elections two days after the Games open in Sochi.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) will hold a poll to elect new leaders on February 9, a senior source told AFP, meaning luge medal hope Shiva Keshavan and three other competitors will be classed as independents, not as Indians.
The International Olympic C ..
India's athletes lost all hope on Wednesday of competing under the national flag at the Winter Olympics after the country's suspended Olympic association said it would hold elections two days after the Games open in Sochi.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) will hold a poll to elect new leaders on February 9, a senior source told AFP, meaning luge medal hope Shiva Keshavan and three other competitors will be classed as independents, not as Indians.
The International Olympic C ..
India's athletes "lost all hope" on Wednesday of competing under the national flag at the Winter Olympics after the Indian Olympic Association said that "it would hold elections two days after the Games open in Sochi," according to the AFP. A senior official said that the IOA will hold a poll to elect new leaders on Feb. 9, "meaning luge medal hope Shiva Keshavan and three other competitors will be classed as independents, not as Indians." A "furious Keshavan, preparing abroad for his fifth Winter Olympics that open on February 7," said that not being able to compete under the national flag was "shameful and pathetic." The IOA source said holding the elections before the Games would have "created complications" (
AFP, 1/8). The PTI reported Keshavan feels that the humiliation of competing under the IOC flag at next month's Sochi Games would be a reminder of the "scourge of corruption" that has denied the country's athletes a chance to hoist the tri-color at the quadrennial event. Indian athletes who have qualified for Sochi, including Keshavan, "would be forced to compete under the IOC flag due to the IOA's continued suspension from the Olympic movement" (
PTI, 1/8).
