Sprinter Hima Das has been handed a provisional suspension by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), for three counts of whereabouts failures over the last 12 months. She is now facing a two-year ban, with the provision of it being reduced to a year.
Hima, who had won three medals in the previous edition of the Asian Games, was left out of India’s 634-member contingent for the upcoming event, owing to a hamstring injury.
According to the regulations laid by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), players are required to convey their whereabouts details to the concerned officials, including their current address and training details, which are used for monitoring athletes and scheduling out-of-competition testing.
Three instances of whereabouts failures – that is, an athlete failing to report details to the authorities – result in a rule violation, and subsequently, a suspension.
Gold Medal-Winning Quartet Under Doping Scanner
With Hima’s suspension, the entire quartet which won the gold medal at the women’s 4*100m relay at the 2021 Indian Grand Prix has now been suspended for doping violations.
Earlier this year, two-time Asian Games medallist Dutee Chand was handed a four-year suspension by NADA for the use of anabolic agents, which is prohibited under the WADA guidelines.
A couple of months ago, another member of the quartet, Archana Suseendran was suspended for eighteen months, owing to a positive doping diagnosis, which found a diuretic called ‘chlorthalidone’ in her urine sample.
Dhanalakshmi Sekar was also suspended for three years in August 2022 for the use of ‘metandienone’ – an anabolic androgenic steroid.
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