Manpreet Kaur banned for four years for dope flunk

Manpreet Kaur is set to lose the gold she won in the 2017 Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar as well as her national record.

Manpreet Kaur tested positive for doping four times in 2017. (File Photo)

A National Anti-Doping Agency disciplinary panel has handed a four-year suspension to Asian champion woman shot putter Manpreet Kaur for testing positive on four occasions over 84 days in 2017.

Manpreet had returned positive tests for an anabolic steroid (metenolone) in the Asian Grand Prix (in Jinhua, China, April 24) and for a stimulant (dimephylbutylamine) in the Federation Cup (Patiala, June 1), Asian championships (Bhubaneswar, July 6) and National inter-state championships (Guntur, July 16).

Considering the four adverse analytical findings as one anti-doping rule violation, the panel rejected the athlete’s plea of sabotage and contamination of food supplements on the ground that she “has failed to establish the way in which the prohibited substance entered her body.”

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Also, the panel, in its order on March 29, did not find any “exceptional circumstances and/or evidence submitted which could justify the assumption of the lack of intention.”

The panel suspended Manpreet from July 20, 2017, the date of her provisional suspension, and ordered disqualification of all her competitive results, including her National mark of 18.86m achieved in Jinhua, from the date of sample collection.

Manpreet has appealed for a reduction of her period of suspension. However, she will still lose all her results in the above mentioned period.