Asiad Gold medallist Vismaya fails out-of-competition doping test

NADA informed the athlete on September 12 that her urine sample contained Clomiphene which comes under the hormone and metabolic modulators category which is prohibited at all times.

FILE PHOTO: India’s Vismaya Velluva Koroth (L) celebrates winning the final of the women’s 4x400m relay athletics event during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. | Photo Credit: AFP

V.K. Vismaya, who anchored the Indian women’s 4x400m relay team to gold at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, has tested positive for dope. The 27-year-old quarter miler was tested at her home in Perumbavur, near Kochi, in an out-of-competition test on August 15 and the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) informed the athlete on September 12 that her urine sample contained Clomiphene which comes under the hormone and metabolic modulators category which is prohibited at all times.

Clomiphene, according to Sport Integrity Australia, is a non-steroidal medication used clinically to induce ovulation in women and increase testosterone levels in males. And Vismaya, who last competed on June 1 in a Taipei meet, explained she had taken it as a fertility drug.

“I agree I had taken it because it induces ovulation. I had mentioned this in the NADA form when they came to take the test. But they did not consider it,” Vismaya told Sportstar from Perumbavur on Monday evening.

“I met the doctor in the first week of August and when the treatment was on, on August 15, the dope test was taken. It was not possible to submit a TUE (therapeutic use exemption) a month in advance in my case. I submitted the TUE after the sample was taken and they rejected it. I’m three months pregnant now.”

Vismaya, who was also a part of the Indian mixed relay team which finished seventh in the 2019 Doha Worlds, said she had twice sent detailed letters to NADA explaining her case.

“I sent a letter to NADA on August 16 because after my sample was taken, I came to know that we had to give all these details. And after that, I became pregnant. First my pregnancy was not successful, and after I took the medicine given by the hospital it was confirmed that I was pregnant,” she said.

“After my pregnancy was confirmed, I sent another letter explaining that I could become pregnant through this medicine. I had sent all the proof. I could not submit a TUE earlier since it was a sort of emergency situation for me.

“They (NADA officials) asked me whether I wanted my ‘B’ sample to be tested and whether I accepted that I had taken the drug. I know I had taken the medicine so there was no point in challenging that. And now since I’m pregnant, I cannot run after the case. I’m alone at home, my husband is in the Army, and I cannot get worried about the case at this point of time, so there is no point in challenging the case.”

Vismaya said that she would consider legal options later.