Asian Champion Nandini Agasara To Miss World Athletics Championship Due To Elbow Injury

Last Updated:August 24, 2025, 20:17 IST

Nandini received a provisional berth for the World Championships to be held from September 13-21 by virtue of winning the heptathlete gold medal at the Asian Championships.

Indian athlete Nandini Agasara. (Picture Credit: PTI)

Reigning Asian champion heptathlete Nandini Agasara announced on Sunday that she will not compete at next month’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, despite qualifying, due to an elbow injury sustained in May.

The 22-year-old Nandini secured a provisional berth for the World Championships, scheduled from September 13-21, by winning the heptathlon gold medal at the Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea, in May.

According to the rules, athletes can qualify for the Tokyo World Championships as “area champions in all the individual events (except for the marathons) on condition that there is no better entry (by World Rankings) of another athlete from the same Area in the same event".

Since there is no other Asian athlete in the World Athletics list — Road to Tokyo — as of Sunday, the qualification deadline, Nandini is expected to receive an invitation from the global body. However, the national federation (AFI) will have the ultimate authority to enter her name based on its own selection criteria.

Nandini mentioned that she is still experiencing pain in her left elbow due to the injury sustained during the Asian Championships.

“I am still undergoing rehab after the injury at the Asian Championships. I continue to feel pain in my left elbow. So, after consulting with my coach (AN Shaji), I have decided not to compete at the World Championships in Tokyo," Nandini told PTI from her home in Hyderabad.

“Next year is crucial with the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Then there’s the Olympics in 2028, where I aim to perform well. Competing in the Tokyo World Championships may worsen my injury," she added.

She mentioned that her rehabilitation is progressing well, and she should be fine next season.

“I sustained the injury during my second attempt in the javelin throw event (out of the seven) and ran my 800m with straps on my elbow. Somehow, I completed the competition."

Following her gold at the Asian Championships, Nandini was appointed as a sports advisor to the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TGSWREIS) in Hyderabad in recognition of her outstanding achievements.

She joined the post in July at the very institute where she trained in 2019.

“I joined as a sports advisor in July, under the Telangana state social welfare department, at the very institute where I had done my coaching and training.

“I will have financial stability but I am not quitting athletics. I will continue to train and prepare for the Asian and Commonwealth Games. My main focus would be the 2028 Olympics."

Nandini also won a heptathlon bronze at the Hangzhou Asian Games in China in 2023, edging out compatriot Swapna Barman. After finishing fourth, Barman controversially alleged that Nandini was ineligible to compete in the women’s event as she is a “transgender".

Barman later apologised, saying the allegations were made out of sheer disappointment and emotional outburst after losing out on a medal.

Nandini, on her part, questioned Barman’s ethics for making such allegations against another Indian woman, especially in a foreign country.

Recently, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) announced that female athletes qualifying for next month’s World Championships will have to undergo an SRY gene test as per the latest directive of the international parent body World Athletics.

The SRY (Sex-determining Region Y) gene test is primarily used to identify the presence or absence of the SRY gene, which plays a crucial role in male sex determination during fetal development.

On July 30, World Athletics made it mandatory for all athletes wishing to compete in the female category at the World Championships to undergo a “once-in-a-lifetime test" for the SRY gene — a reliable proxy for determining biological sex.

(With inputs from PTI)

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First Published:

August 24, 2025, 20:17 IST

News sports Asian Champion Nandini Agasara To Miss World Athletics Championship Due To Elbow Injury

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