Why Dipa Karmakar is serving two-year ban?

Dipa Karmakar is currently serving a two-year doping ban. AFP

Rio Olympics star Dipa Karmakar has been serving a two-year doping ban under whereabout rules, reported Times of India on Saturday. The 29-year-old gymnast, who historically finished fourth at the 2016 Rio Olympics,  has been under suspension since mid-2021 as mandated by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The news of Karmakar’s suspension broke out in March this year when international gymnastics federation (FIG) revealed her ‘suspended’ status. Amid speculation of a doping suspension, neither FIG nor Indian gymnastics body (GFI) revealed the reason for her suspension ever since. Natioanl Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) remained tight-lipped on the matter too.

Also read: FIG listing Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar as ‘suspended’ leaves national federation confused

Dipa and her coach Bishweshwar Nandi are yet to respond on the matter.

FIG was sent a separate email by the publication but the body reverted with ‘no comment’.

The report further stated that Sports Authority of India and NADA have blamed coach Nandi, who trained Karmakar since her childhood, for failing to inform WADA on the gymnast’s whereabouts through the Anti-Doping Administration Management System (ADAMS).

ADAMS is designed to keep WADA in the loop with relevant information of athletes for the purpose of effective out-of-competition testing programme.

As per the rules, if an athlete fails to inform on his/her whereabouts information thrice then that constitutes “an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) and he/she will be sanctioned for a period of ineligibility of 12 to 24 months (first offence) or more for subsequent offences”.

The ADAMS requires an athlete to provide their whereabouts on quarterly basis, which includes location details, competition schedules and where they will be available for testing.

An athlete is considered liable for missing a test irrespective of failure of their agent, in Dipa’s case her coach.

SAI claimed they are not liable for Nandi’s mistake as he is employed with Tripura state sports department.

As per sources, NADA wants to take action within its jurisdiction against Nandi for putting Dipa’s career on the line. In the past, the anti-doping body athletics coach Mickey Menzes for four years for giving banned substance to his trainee Kirti Bhoite, who is currently serving a two-year ban.

Post her Rio Olympics show, Dipa had a career married with injury as she underwent surgery for an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in 2017. Her last major competition was the 2019 World Cup in Baku, after which she missed the Tokyo Olympics after failing to qualify due to a knee injury.

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