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The story of India’s national record holder in the women’s discus throw, Kamalpreet Kaur, is of a meteoric rise and an equally sudden fall.
The 26-year-old Olympic finalist in Tokyo was banned by the Athletic Integrity Unit (AIU) for three years on Wednesday, for failing an out-of-competition dope test conducted in March this year. As a result, she will not be eligible to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The AIU announced on Wednesday that all the results of Kamalpreet from March 7, 2022, will be null and void. She tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol, prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Since Kamalpreet Kaur admitted to anti-doping rule violations, her suspension was reduced to three years instead of four by AIU.
The promising thrower from Punjab finished sixth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games held last year in Japan and was considered to have the potential to earn a podium finish at the Asian Games in China next year.
From a moderate performance of 60m in the 2018-19 season, she rose to prominence in 2021. Last year Kamalpreet became the first Indian thrower to cross the 65m mark in discus throw.
In March 2021 her personal best was 65.06m. Later in June, she improved her performance to 66.59m at the Inter-State Athletics Championships held in Patiala. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games held last year in Japan, she finished sixth.
The Punjab thrower was earlier tested by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) but never failed a dope test. Kamalpreet Kaur's good run ended in March this year when she failed a dope test.
Kamalpreet Kaur not alone among Indian athletes caught doping recently
Post the Tokyo Olympic Games, several leading athletes from India have failed dope tests, indicating that doping is rampant in the country's athletics.
Javelin thrower Shivpal Singh, discus thrower Navpreet Kaur Dhillon, 400m sprinter MR Poovamma, sprinter S Dhanalakshmi, sprinter Jilna VM, and triple jumper Aishwarya B are some of the most prominent Indian athletes to have failed dope tests in 2022.
