Discus thrower Navjeet Kaur Dhillon fails dope test, suspended for three years

Dhillon, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist from 2018, tested positive for a metabolite of the anabolic steroid Dehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHCMT).

Navjeet Kaur Dhillon reacts after a throw in the women’s discus throw final at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on August 3, 2022. | Photo Credit: PTI

A few months after Tokyo Olympic finalist Kamalpreet Kaur failed a dope test, another leading woman discus thrower Navjeet Kaur Dhillon has run into dope trouble.

Navjeet, the fifth best discus thrower in Asia this year and the 2018 Commonwealth Game bronze medallist, failed an out-of-competition dope test conducted by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on June 24 this year. She tested positive for a metabolite of the anabolic steroid Dehydrochloromethyltestosterone, a non-specified substance prohibited by WADA at all times.

On August 11, the AIU notified Navjeet – the 2014 under-20 Worlds bronze medallist – of the adverse analytical finding and also provisionally suspended her. Navjeet was informed of her rights and also given an option to admit the anti-doping rule violation by August 18 and potentially benefit from a one-year reduction in the period of ineligibility. And when it did not hear from the athlete, the AIU gave her a last opportunity and extended the deadline to August 24.

On August 23, Navjeet wrote to the AIU stating that she had used a supplement that, unknown to her, contained a prohibited substance. She also also returned an admission of anti-doping rule violations and acceptance of consequences form signed to confirm that she admitted the violations.

That early admission of the anti-doping rule violation saw the AIU reduce Navjeet’s four-year suspension by a year to three years, commencing on 11 August 2022 (the date of provisional suspension).

Along with that, Navjeet’s results from June 24, 2022 have been disqualified and all titles, awards, medals and appearance money will be forfeited.

Navjeet had won all the three meets she did this year in India, including the Inter-State Nationals in Chennai in June. She had also won the title in the Qosanov memorial meet in Almaty on June 25, a day before she was tested. The athlete, who has a personal best of 59.18m, was eighth in the recent Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with 53.51.