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What's the story?
National women's shot put record holder Manpreet Kaur has tested positive for banned substance dimethylbutylamine. The 21-year-old had won gold in Shot Put in Asian Grand Prix Athletics Meet held in Odisha.
She has been tested positive for using the banned substance at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar and the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Guntur. Hailing from Sahauli village in Patiala, the national champion and Olympian had been provisionally suspended and dropped from the Indian contingent to IAAF World Athletics Championship in London this year despite qualifying for them due to her previous doping charges.
In case you didn't know
She had failed the dope test for the same drug twice this year. The first occasion was of the sample from the Asian Grand Prix held in China in April 2017 and then again two months later in the Federation Cup held in Patiala.
However, she is no short of talent as she came up with her best throw of 18.86 m in the Asian Grand Prix Athletics Meet. This performance made her qualify for the IAAF World Championships held in London.
The heart of the matter
This stimulant was a specified substance by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) and thus she was provisionally suspended instead of being banned. Dimethylbutylamine is structurally related to another stimulant methylhexanamine, which was used by a number of sportspersons at the Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi in 2010.
However, the drug in recent concern also lead to the banning of six quarter-milers in 2011 and might bring Manpreet into deep trouble. Kaur was the only Indian woman to qualify for Shot Put in 2016 Rio Olympics and that clearly speaks of her talent.
What's next?
A NADA official told the Hindu that all four cases of Manpreet would be handled simultaneously since they involve the same drug all four times. If she is found guilty, she will lose all her medals won this year, which includes a gold at the Asian Grand Prix, Asian Championships and the National Inter State Championships.
Due to her repeated failures in the dope test NADA is constituting a disciplinary panel for the same, according to the Tribune.
Author's take
Since this incident has occurred multiple times in the same year, a detailed investigation should be carried out and if the athlete found guilty, appropriate action must be taken.
