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Manpreet Kaur fails dope test, but remains eligible for shot put event at World meet
Manpreet Kaur failed an in-competition test conducted by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) during the Federation Cup in Patiala from June 1-4.
India’s leading shot putter and gold medallist in the just concluded Asian Athletics Championships, Manpreet Kaur has failed a dope test for the stimulant Dimethylbutylamine.
The national record holder failed an in-competition test conducted by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) during the Federation Cup in Patiala from June 1-4.
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The thrower is one of the top athletes of the country who has also qualified for next month’s World Athletics Championships in London. Since the stimulant comes under the specified category of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), she will not be debarred from competing in the global meet as there is no mandatory provisional suspension for testing positive for this substance.
However, she will have to appear before a NADA disciplinary panel for a hearing. If she is not able to prove her innocence, the national champion might lose the gold medal she won at the Asian meet held at Bhubaneswar from July 6-9.
In the Asian Grand Prix, held in China in April, the Indian had won a gold with a throw of 18.86 metres. It was better than the 17.75m qualifying mark for the global meet. Her outstanding performance also ranked her World No.1. In Bhubaneswar, it was a brilliant throw of 18.28m which won her the gold.
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Manpreet had also participated in the inter-state athletics meet that concluded on Tuesday in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. As expected she dominated the women’s shot put, but her winning throw was 15.65m.
The 27-year-old had also qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics but eventually finished 23rd with a best throw of 17.06m.
Though Manpreet has dominated domestic competition since 2015, her performance graph has not been steady. During the Kolkata Open national meet in 2015, her gold medal winning throw of 17.96m created a new national record, but she failed to repeat her performance at the Olympics.
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After winning the continental title in Bhubaneswar she said her focus was to repeat her personal best of 18.86m in the world meet, starting August 4. But now it is doubtful whether she would be able to stay focused.
In other cases of doping earlier this season, India’s leading 400m hurdler Jithin Paul also came under the doping scanner. During a raid by NADA at Patiala’s hostel, officials seized syringes and vials of meldonium, a drug that Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova has tested positive for.
Jagtar Singh, gold medal winner decathlon at the Federation Cup, is another high profile athlete to have failed a dope test this season.
