Top woman race walker Khushbir Kaur was, on Saturday, axed from the Indian team for the upcoming Asian Race Walking Championships after Athletics Federation of India cracked the whip on her for opting out of the 20km event of the National Championships without informing the AFI here.
National record holder Khushbir's name was there in the starting list but she chose not to take part in the women's 20km event, which enraged the AFI bosses who had directed all the athletes to take part in the championships.
Another top race walker, Manish Singh Rawat also did not take part despite his name being in the starting line-up of the men's 20km event. Along with Khushbir, Manish has also been axed from the Indian team for the Asian Race Walking Championships, to be held in Nomi, Japan on March 20.
A furious AFI Selection Committee Chairman Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, who watched the proceedings, said that those who did not take part on Saturday, will not be selected for the Asian Championships. He also recommended the AFI to throw out the likes of Khushbir and Manish from the national camp.
"I have recommended to the AFI that these athletes be thrown out of the national camps. They cannot behave like this. We will see what reason their coach gives (for non-participation)," he added.
Both of them have also been warned not to skip national tournaments in future and told if they repeat the same mistake, they
would be barred from the national camp.
The finger of suspicion was directed towards foreign coach Alexander Artsybashev, who had earlier stopped Khushbir from taking part in national level events.