Sprinter Nirmala Sheoran banned for four years, stripped of Asian titles

Indian sprinter Nirmala Sheoran has been stripped of her two Asian Championships gold medals and banned for four years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which manages track and field doping cases.

The AIU came out with the order to ban Nirmala on October 7 for testing positive for the steroids drostanolone and metenolone at a competition back home in June 2018.

According to AIU, the Indian athlete, whose biological passport also showed irregular blood readings, accepted the sanction and did not request for a hearing.

“The Athletics Integrity Unit has banned Indian sprinter Sheoran Nirmala for four years with effect from 29 June 2018, for the presence and use of a Prohibited Substance. The athlete accepted the sanction,” the ACU tweeted.

The period of her ban will start from June 28, 2018. Her results from August 2016 to November 2018 were also disqualified.

Nirmala had won gold medals in the 400m and 4x400m relay at the 2017 Asian Championships in India. She also ran in both the events at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.