Athletics SA own goal
Organisation must cut an athlete from already small world championships squad after selection bungle
Athletics SA has suffered a self-inflicted black eye as it was forced to cut one athlete from its world championship squad after entering discus thrower Victor Hogan erroneously. Remaining defiant amid calls by athletes to increase the size of the team it is sending to London for the August 4-13 showpiece‚ it had to backtrack over Hogan’s selection on Monday. In a media release‚ Athletics SA said it had "entered his name as the [African] champion based on his win of the continental title" in Durban in 2016. But the sport’s world governing body‚ the IAAF‚ had rejected Hogan’s entry because of his 2016 doping suspension. Athletics SA said he failed a test at the national championships in April‚ nullifying all results thereafter‚ including the African championships about two months later. Athletics SA president Aleck Skhosana suggested on Sunday that Hogan was included because he had thrown a qualifying standard‚ but the IAAF and other respected athletics websites had no record of this...
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