Priyanka Panwar (L) has tested positive for a second time. (Express file photo by Jaipal Singh)
Priyanka Panwar, part of the 4×400 metre relay team which won gold at the 2014 Incheon Asiad, has been banned for eight years — the sanction period for an athlete committing a second doping offence. Priyanka’s ban is significant not only because she failed a dope test a second time but also due to the fact that she was at the national camp of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and part of the core group of runners being prepped for the Rio Olympics.
“The order was issued on Friday and today (Monday) it was conveyed to all parties concerned,” National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) director general Navin Agarwal said. Panwar’s samples were collected during the 56th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in July last year. She tested positive for Mephentermine, a stimulant, and anabolic steroid Androsterone.Panwar was among the six runners of the relay squad who had tested positive in 2011 before the Asian Athletics Championships in one of the biggest doping scandals in Indian sport. She had made a comeback after serving a two-year ban. However, Panwar’s lawyer Vidushpat Singhania said, “There were many anomalies in the process of analysing the sample, violations of procedure mandated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) itself on sample testing and reporting and principles of natural justice, which will require thorough investigation.”
1 year for Asian Youth champ Rohit Yadav
Asian Youth champion in the javelin throw, Rohit Yadav was banned for one year on Monday for failing a dope test during the 14th National Youth Athletics Championship in Hyderabad in April. His sample had returned an adverse analytical finding for Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid.
The Asian Youth Championships were held a month later but the positive test result came only on May 23, the final day of the Asian event. During the course of the hearing of the anti-doping disciplinary panel, Yadav’s counsel Parth Goswami stated that the athlete came from a humble background and had no knowledge as to how the prohibited substance entered his body. The counsel also stated that as Yadav, 16, was a minor, a degree of leniency should be exercised in his case.
