NEW DELHI: Dhanalakshmi Sekar, the women’s 100m and 4x100m relay specialist, and triple jumper Aishwarya Babu have failed dope tests just a week before the start of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Both have been ruled out of the event, a development that dents India’s medal aspirations. It’s been learnt the substance found in Dhanalakshmi’s sample is an anabolic steroid-androsterone. She has been handed a provisional suspension for her first-time doping offence.
Aishwarya, the Karnataka long and triple jumper, caught the attention of dope officials after her recent superb show at the inter-state championships in Chennai.
Both have been ruled out of the event, a development that dents India’s medal aspirations. It’s been learnt the substance found in Dhanalakshmi’s sample is an anabolic steroid-androsterone. She has been handed a provisional suspension for her first-time doping offence.
Aishwarya, the Karnataka long and triple jumper, caught the attention of dope officials after her recent superb show at the inter-state championships in Chennai.
TimesView
India is one of the leading offenders in the world of doping in sports. The list of errant athletes continues to grow. Authorities need to take a strict, long-term view of the menace and find ways to eradicate it. The danger of letting matters drift can be extremely damaging. Russia was banned from international sports due to regular instances of doping offences.
Both have been ruled out of the Birmingham CWG, scheduled from July 28 to August 8.
“The members of the relay team were training in three different locations – Ooty, Trivandrum and Almaty. Dhanalakshmi was preparing for the USA World Championships and Birmingham CWG in Almaty where her sample was collected by the AIU. It’s been learnt that the substance found in her sample is an anabolic steroid – androsterone. She has been handed a provisional suspension for her first-time doping offence,” a senior athletics coach told TOI.
The Tamil Nadu athlete was part of the women’s 4x400m relay squad at the Tokyo Olympics. “She was named in the individual 100m sprint and 4x100m relay squad along with the likes of Dutee Chand, Hima Das and Srabani Nanda for the CWG. The AFI had named a six-member women’s 4x100m relay squad, with the other two members being MV Jilna and NS Simi. So, any one of them could replace Dhanalakshmi in the squad. So, a replacement can be named,” the coach added.
Dhanalakshmi was also part of the athletics contingent for the ongoing Worlds in Eugene, but had opted out of the event owing to visa issues. It has now emerged that the sprinter had failed the dope test.
She recently came into prominence after registering the third best time by an Indian woman in 200m – 22.89s – after Saraswati Saha’s 22.82s in 2002 and Hima Das’ 22.88s last year at the XXXI Qosanov Memorial in Kazakhstan on June 26. Earlier last month, she had clocked her personal best timing of 11.26s to clinch the 100m title at the Erzurum Sprint International Cup in Turkey.
In the case of Aishwarya, the Karnataka long and triple jumper caught the attention of dope officials after her stupendous show at the inter-state championships in Chennai. Aishwarya, who stands just over five-feet tall, had created history after becoming only the second Indian after Anju Bobby George (6.83m) to cross the 6.70m mark in the long jump after producing a 6.73m effort during the qualification round. A day later, she broke Mayookha Johny’s 11-year-old triple jump national record after leaping to 14.14m.
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