Athletics
Himani Chandel suspended for four years for a doping offence
The suspension has been into effect from June 15, 2023, as the list of female sprinters suspended for doping violations gets longer.
Representative Photograph
Indian sprinter Himani Chandel has been banned for four years with effect from 15th June 2023 on account of a doping offence.
Himani was tested positive for the steroid Drostanolone after she secured her personal best in the 100m event clocking in at 11.69s during the 26th National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships held in Ranchi in May 2023.
She was originally named in the Indian 4x100 team for the Asian championships in Bangkok last year. But Himani and Archana Suseendran were found to be involved in doping violations. Eventually, the team was dropped.
Hima Das, the prolific sprinter who holds the national record for 400m, is also under provisional suspension by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for three whereabouts failures in 12 months.
There is no confirmation as to whether she had been reprieved or sanctioned. NADA will in due time provide clarity on her situation as well.
The list of female sprinters under doping suspension is getting longer with Dutee Chand, Dhanalakshmi Sekhar, Archana Suseendran, M. V. Jilna, Taranjeet Kaur, Himani Chandel, Kamaljeet Kaur and Diandra Valladares currently serving suspension.
Two of India's representatives at the recent World cross-country championships, Hemraj Gurjar and Anjali Kumari have been provisionally suspended by for apparent anti-doping rule violations. It is not clear where and when the samples were taken.
Gurjar had won the National cross-country at Gaya with a timing of 29:30 but finished 88th at the World XC at Belgrade with a timing of 33:56. He had also won the National cross-country last year.
Mohd Nur Hasan, an outstanding steeplechaser last season who had a dream run in the domestic circuit though he had a DNF at the Asian championships at Bangkok, is also under provisional suspension.
This should be raising alarms in Indian athletics. It indicated the need for increased awareness and more vigilant testing across the board to prevent this from happening in the future.
India has recently trumped Russia as the top dope offender, according to a report released by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
In 2022, India tested a total of 3,865 samples — urine, blood, and dried blood spot (DBS) combined — during the collection period that began on January 1 and ended on December 31. 125 of them returned Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs), with 49 of them athletics samples.
