An Indian athlete who is scheduled to participate in the upcoming 2018 Commonwealth Games to be held in Gold Coast, Queensland from April 4th to 15th is nowhere to be found.
According to Hindustan Times, Discus thrower Seema Punia has not reached Australia and the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is clueless about her whereabouts.
The Commonwealth Games is scheduled to start on April 4th.
Most of the members of the athletics contingent have reached Australia and begun their preparations.
24 Indian athletes left India in two batches last week and are training in Australia while the rest of the athletes, who are still in the country, are training in Ooty and Patiala in India ahead of the games.
However, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has 'no idea' regarding the whereabouts of discus thrower Seema Punia.
“I have no idea where Seema is. She hasn’t gone to Australia and isn’t training in Patiala,” chief coach Bahadur Singh told HT.
K. Ranga Rao, Vice President of the AFI, told Sportskeeda, "Seema has not travelled to Australia yet. She is training somewhere else on her own, we're not sure though where. But she will obviously join the contingent soon."
Indian media reports suggest the 34-year-old medal prospect could be currently training in Russia, a country which has been banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for running a state-sponsored doping programme.
Seema qualified for this year's Commonwealth Games after throwing 61.05m (the qualifying mark was 59m) which earned her a gold medal at the recently held Federation Cup.
She bagged a gold medal at the World Junior Championships in Santiago in 2000 but was stripped off her medal after failing the dope test for a stimulant.
She also failed the dope test ahead of the 2006 Doha Asian Games.
This will be her fourth appearance at Commonwealth Games. Seema has bagged three Commonwealth Games medals --- two silver and a bronze since 2006 Melbourne --- and is considered a medal prospect.
