Indian fails dope test, out of Asian Games

NEWDELHI: National champion in men’s 3000m steeplechase, Naveen Kumar’s hopes of representing the country in his second Asian Games were shattered as he failed the dope test for performance-enhancing drugs conducted by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) at last month’s InterState Championships in Guwahati. He was among the 51-member squad announced by Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for Jakarta.

The Army runner, according to an official familiar with the developments, reportedly tested positive for meldonium, the drug banned by World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) since January 2016.

Naveen has been provisionally suspended and faces a fouryear suspension if found guilty. He was considered a medal prospect and, in the run-up to the Asian Games, was training in Thimphu, Bhutan. He has been asked to quit the national camp.

Naveen had been dominating the steeplechase event for long, but his form dipped last year and he failed to impress in the Asian Championships held at Bhubaneswar.

On his comeback, the 30-yearold from Haryana clocked a personal best of 8:39.42 secs, nearly three seconds better than his meet record set in 2014, to achieve the Asian Games qualifying mark of 8:41.40 seconds in Guwahati.

During the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, he had won bronze.

With India’s high-profile athlete testing positive for banned drugs ahead of the continental event, the spotlight is once again on track and field, which is most vulnerable to doping.

On Tuesday, promising javelin thrower Amit Kumar was provisionally suspended as he failed out-of-competition dope test conducted by the Athletics Integrity Unit of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in June during an exposure tour to Finland.

NADA had collected more than 30 urine samples during the competition in Guwahati. The AFI is keeping its fingers crossed. “There is no replacement for Naveen,” said a top official of the AFI.

NAVEEN HAD BEEN DOMINATING 3000M STEEPLECHASE EVENT FOR LONG, BUT HIS FORM DIPPED LAST YEAR. HE FAILED TO IMPRESS IN ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS.