India, June 27 -- An athlete representing Tamil Nadu was forced to run the 400m hurdles solo on Saturday morning after officials made a blunder during her heat. The controversial incident took place on Friday during the women's 400m hurdles at the National Interstate Championships, which also serves as an Asian Games qualifier.

Harshitha clocked an impressive personal best of 1:01:03, coming third in her heat, and her qualification to the final was initially confirmed. But later, it was found that the fifth hurdle in her lane was missing, and she had crossed over to clear it in Lane 7. She was placed in Lane 8.

Initially, the officials disqualified her, but after a verbal protest, the Athletics Federation of India allowed her to run ano...