In a shocking development, several lifters, including a 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, who competed in the national weightlifting championships at Visakhapatnam in February last, have failed dope tests.
Even though details relating to the names of the lifters and the substance were not known, a source claimed that 14 of the 26 lifters, who were tested randomly by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) during the national championships, failed dope tests and a few others could follow suit.
“Some of the lifters are from Railways and Services,” said the source.
The development comes close on the heels of the nine dope positive results reported from the National junior weightlifting championships in Nagpur in December last.
Asked to leave camp
After getting the news, authorities concerned asked the dope positive athletes — who were inducted into the national camp following their fine performance in Visakhapatnam — to leave the camp as soon as possible.
Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) secretary Sahdev Yadav said he had no information about the positive results. “I have not received any information so far. If such a development happens, due procedure will be followed. We are against doping,” said Yadav.
The source claimed that so many dope positive results could be due to the consumption of selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs), which is considered to be an alternative for steroids and is used for muscle-building.
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has mentioned ostarine, also known as enobosarm, in the 2019 list of prohibited substances.
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