The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) on Wednesday banned weightlifter Sarbjit Kaur for 4 years after the player was found guilty of violating anti-doping rules. Sarbjit was banned after she failed the doping test.
Sarbjit, who hails from Punjab, won the National Weightlifting Championship in the women’s 71 kg category in February 2019. Her sample was taken by NADA during the 34th National Weightlifting Championship held in Visakhapatnam this year.
NADA issued a statement in Sarbjit’s case which read, “The Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel has found weightlifter Sarbjit Kaur guilty of anti-doping rule violation. She has been imposed a penalty of ineligibility for a period of four years. Kaur was tested positive earlier following intake of the prohibited non-specified substance.”
NADA further clarified that Sarbjit’s sample had the presence of prohibited substances namely — Di-hydroxy-LGD-4033 (LGD 4033 METABOLITE), Selective Androgen Receptor Modulations (SARM), and Ostarine (Enobosarm).
Prior to Seema’s former Olympian boxer, Sumit Sangwan had also failed the dope test. NAD slapped a one-year ban on Sumit on 27 December. Due to the ban Sumit, who had represented India in the London Olympics, could not participate in the trails for the Olympic qualifiers.
Neeraj Phogat is another pugilist also an Olympic hopeful who failed a dope test this year. She was found guilty of the consumption of performance-enhancing drug ligandrol and other anabolic steroids. Due to the temporary suspension, Neeraj will no longer be able to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
The increasing number of dope cheats has also become a cause of worry for the Indian Olympic Association and the Sports ministry. It is for the same reason that NADA is conducting pre-Olympic dope testing of all core probable so that only clean athletes are deputed for the Olympic Games.
