NEW DELHI: Rio-bound Dharambir Singh, the national record holder in 200m, could face a ban of eight years or more after failing a dope test. When the 27-year-old didn’t board the flight to Rio on Tuesday, there was speculation of a positive test. An official of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) confirmed the development, saying Dharambir wasn’t eligible for the Olympics now.
This is his second doping offence and anti-doping rules state he could face a sentence ranging from eight years to a life ban.
Dharambir is the third Rio-bound athlete to test positive after wrestler Narsingh Yadav and shot-putter Inderjeet Singh. Narsingh was later given a clean chit by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
Dharambir had tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid, in 2012 and was banned for two years. He made a comeback in 2014 with a win at the National Games in Kerala and set records in domestic competitions last year.
He qualified for Rio at the Indian Grand Prix at Bengaluru on July 10, clocking 20.45 secs, a national record and better than the Rio qualifying mark of 20.50 secs. In the process, Dharambir became the first Indian to qualify for the 200m event in 36 years.
Sources said Dharambir’s urine sample collected during the interstate meet in Hyderabad (June 28 to July 2) had traces of a banned substance. “There were doubts over his performance,” said a federation official. “But he had a clean 2015 season. He participated in international meets this season while trying to achieve the Rio qualifying mark and was clean. He also won bronze at the Asian Championships in Wuhan, China, and the tests there were clean.”
{{/usCountry}}Sources said Dharambir’s urine sample collected during the interstate meet in Hyderabad (June 28 to July 2) had traces of a banned substance. “There were doubts over his performance,” said a federation official. “But he had a clean 2015 season. He participated in international meets this season while trying to achieve the Rio qualifying mark and was clean. He also won bronze at the Asian Championships in Wuhan, China, and the tests there were clean.”
{{/usCountry}}Last week, there was discussion in the AFI on whether to retest Dharambir before he boarded the flight to Brazil. But NADA has stopped screening athletes before major international meets.
Dharambir had consistently clocked below 21 seconds last season, and was one of the key runners in the 4x100m relay team which failed to make it to Rio.
He preferred to stay away from the national camp and trained with his personal coach in Rohtak, Haryana. The latest episode could mean the end of the road for the national champion.