Olympic-bound wrestler Sumit Malik fails dope test, provisionally suspended

CHENNAI: Olympic-bound Indian wrestler Sumit Malik (125kg) failed a dope test conducted during the World Olympic Games Qualifier in Sofia (Bulgaria) last month and was provisionally suspended by the United World Wrestling, the world governing body of the sport.

He made the Olympic cut during the event by finishing with a silver medal. He conceded the final bout to his Russian opponent Sergei Kozyrev because of the knee injury, which has been troubling him since last year. He recovered from the injury before the Asian Qualifier held in Almaty, Kazakhstan in April but it apparently recurred during the competition.

The Haryana wrestler admitted that he had taken medicines for knee injury during the event. “My physiotherapist informed the authorities concerned about the medicines I took for the knee injury. I haven’t been officially informed about the decision (provisional suspension) yet. I will decide on testing my ‘B’ sample soon,” the 28-year-old Sumit told The New Indian Express.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) confirmed that banned substances (5-methylhexan-2-amine and 1,4 dimethylpentylamine) were found in the sample collected from Sumit during the qualifier. It’s a stimulant (energy-booster), which is in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list published in 2021.

“Now, he will not accompany the Olympic-bound wrestlers for the Poland trip. The team will leave tomorrow (Saturday). They will compete in the Poland Ranking Series and then camp there till July 5,” said Vinod Tomar, WFI’s assistant secretary.

Sumit has time till June 10 to get his ‘B’ sample tested. “The Olympic dream of Sumit seems over as his ‘B’ sample will be tested now. He can also appeal to the Anti-Doping Panels. He has to prove that the substances were taken inadvertently and this process is time consuming,” added Tomar. The wrestler can be banned if his ‘B’ sample also returns positive.

This is the second instance of an Indian wrestler failing a dope test ahead of the Games. Narsingh Yadav was tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics. He was eventually slapped with a four-year ban.

Incidentally, eight Indian wrestlers had qualified for the Games then. Given the situation, it looks like the quota will now be awarded to a wrestler from another country if Sumit fails to prove his innocence.