CWG champ Sanjita Chanu caught for doping
NEWDELHI:A fresh doping row hit Indian weightlifting on Thursday with K Sanjita Chanu, women’s 53kg gold medallist at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April, testing positive for testosterone, an anabolic steroid.
The finding has been published by the International Weightlifting Federation in its website. The lifter has been provisionally suspended by the world body, and faces a four-year ban if proved guilty when the process is completed. “IWF reports that the sample of Ms Sanjita Chanu Khumukcham (IND) has returned an Adverse Analytical Finding for testosterone (S1.1 Anabolic Agents). As a consequence, the athlete is provisionally suspended in view of a potential antidoping rule violation,” the IWF statement read.
“In any case where it is determined that the athlete did not commit an anti-doping rule violation, the relevant decision will also be published. IWF will not make any further comments on the case until it is closed.”
LACK OF CLARITY
However, there is no clarity over the international competition in which she tested positive. Sahdev Yadav, general secretary of the Indian weightlifting Federation (IWF), said a top lifter had failed a dope test, but didn’t reveal the name. Yadav said the sample was taken during the World Championships held in the US from November 28 to December 1.
“Since the B sample (result) is pending we can’t share the details,” he said. Chanu finished 13th in the 53kg division in the worlds.
There’s confusion whether Chanu was eligible to compete in the CWG and whether the doping probe only began after the Gold Coast event. If found guilty, Sanjita Chanu will lose her gold.
The 24-year-old Manipur lifter set a record by lifting 84kg in snatch and 108kg in clean and jerk (total 192kg) at the CWG.
Following the positive test, Sanjita Chanu has been expelled from the national camp for the Jakarta Asian Games currently on at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Shilaroo, Himachal Pradesh.
The positive case is the latest setback for India’s weightlifting federation, which was suspended in 2006 and 2009 after its lifters were caught for doping and paid hefty fines. It will also hit the national team as dope positives in international events, as per the new anti-doping policy of IWF, will lead to fewer quota places for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
India were also at the centre of violating the strict ‘no needle’ policy at the CWG after syringes were recovered from rooms occupied by their boxers. The boxers were allowed to compete, but the chef de mission was reprimanded.