Sports News | 3 National Games Participant Track and Field Athletes Among 11 Sportspersons Get Reduced 3-year Ban
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. Eleven sportspersons, including three track and field athletes who participated in the Goa National Games last year, benefitted from quick acceptance of doping charge, leading to the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) handing them reduced sanction of three-year ban this month.
New Delhi, Jan 16 (PTI) Eleven sportspersons, including three track and field athletes who participated in the Goa National Games last year, benefitted from quick acceptance of doping charge, leading to the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) handing them reduced sanction of three-year ban this month.
Kamaljeet Kaur (100m and 200m), Ajay Kumar (5000m and 10000m) and Harjodhvir Singh (5000m and 10000m) are the three track and field athletes, who took part in the October 25-November 9 National Games in Goa.
Their names appeared in the latest NADA list of those who got reduced sanction of three years -- as against usual four -- under Article 10.8 of NADA Rules.
More than 20 athletes from various sports have returned positive for banned drugs in tests conducted during the Goa National Games.
Kamaljeet of Punjab had won silver in the women's 200m (23.84 seconds) and finished sixth in 100m (11.73 seconds) at the National Games. She tested positive for Drostanolone, a synthetic anabolic steroid, according the latest NADA list of decisions under case resolution agreement.
Ajay Kumar, who tested positive for Darbepoetin and Morphine, won the men's 5000m bronze (14:13.33) and finished sixth in the 10,000m (30:39.91) at the National Games. He had represented Goa at the National Games.
Punjab's Harjodhvir, whose sample also tested positive for Darbepoetin and Morphine, did not win any medal at the National Games. He finished fifth in the men's 5000m (14:18.20) and a DNF (did not finish) in the 10,000m.
All the above mentioned three track and field athletes will begin their ban period from December 6, 2023, the date their provisional suspension started.
Article 10.8.1 of the NADA Anti-Doping Rules allowed athletes charged with a four year ban to benefit from a one year reduction, if they 'admit' the violation and accept the penalty within 20 days of being charged.
Article 10.8.2 provides an opportunity for the athlete to enter into a Case Resolution Agreement with the NADA and WADA in which the applicable period of ineligibility can be agreed upon based on the facts of the case.
Three weightlifters -- Priyadarshani Thuram (Mephentermine), Mithlesh Sonkar (SARM LGD-4033) and a minor (Methyltestosterone) -- were also among the 11 sportspersons handed reduced ban of three years, though it is not known whether they competed in the National Games or not.
The most prominent of the seven weightlifters who failed dope tests at the National Games was Vandana Gupta, a double bronze-medal winner in the Commonwealth Championships.
Wrestler Anil Malik also get a reduced three-year ban under Article 10.8 of the NADA Rules in the latest list of this month.
Cyclist Anita Devi was handed provisional suspension by the NADA on December 6 after her urine sample collected on November 3 during the National Games was found to contain banned drug 19-Norandrosterone, an anabolic androgenic steroid.
But the NADA is yet to make public any details regarding Anita, just like in the case of weightlifter Vandana.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)