New Delhi: Asian champion shot putter Manpreet Kaur has been banned for four years by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for flunking four dope tests in 2017.
The period of suspension would begin from 20 July 2017, the date of her provisional suspension, according to an order of the anti-doping disciplinary panel (ADDP) of the NADA dated 29 March.
“Yes, Manpreet Kaur has been suspended for four years,” NADA Director General Navin Agarwal told PTI. She has the option of filing an appeal before the Anti-Doping Appeal Panel. Manpreet is set to lose the gold she won in the 2017 Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar as well as her national record as the panel ruled that all her competitive results from the date of sample collection would be disqualified with all resulting consequences, including forfeiture of medals.
Manpreet tested positive four times in 2017. The first was at the Asian Grand Prix at Jinhua, China on 24 April, followed by Federation Cup in Patiala (1 June), Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar (6 July) and the Inter-State Championships in Guntur (16 July). She won gold in all these meets.
She had set the national record of 18.86m at Jinhua. She tested positive for steroid metenolone at the Jinhua Asian GP meet. In the other three meets in India, she tested positive for the stimulant dimethylbutylamine, a substance that has an almost similar structure as the more famous methylhexaneamine (MHA). All the four dope cases were counted as one by the ADDP.
Regarding the presence of steroid in the Jinhua sample, Manpreet’s lawyers alleged sabotage and said her drink was spiked while training in Patiala.