It only gets murkier - Now, Ashwini, Priyanka flunk dope tests

The Indian athletics’ cup of woe overflowed on Monday when two more sprinters — Asian Games double gold medallist Ashwini Akkunji and Priyanka Panwar — failed dope tests conducted by the National Anti Doping Agency (Nada).

With this, the total number of athletes, who returned positive for taking banned drugs in the last six days, has risen to eight. This is probably the worst ever doping scandal to hit the Indian sport since Athens Olympics.

The news of the duo testing positive reached the AFI office barely a few hours before a 37-member Indian team was to leave for Kobe, Japan to participate in the Asian Championships.

Both the girls were promptly dropped from the squad and were immediately placed under provisional suspension pending a hearing by the Nada disciplinary panel.

“We are sorry to announce that two more athletes have been tested positive in the same salt as the other six athletes. We have received the communication from Nada,” said Athletics Federation of India (AFI) director ML Dogra.

“They (Ashwini and Priyanka) were part of the team for the Asian Championships in Kobe but after their failed dope tests, they have been provisionally suspended,” he added.

Ashwini won the 400m hurdles in the 2010 Asian Games and was also a part of the victorious 4x400m relay team in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. Ashwini and Priyanka were made to undergo the out-of-competition tests conducted by Nada in National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, on June 28.

Ashwini shot to fame during the Guangzhou Asian Games when she clipped close to four seconds from her previous best time in 400 metres hurdles to bag the gold medal. Her timing of 56.15 was one of the best ever by an Indian woman since PT Usha’s famous run in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics that won her the fourth place.

Among the other offenders since Wednesday, Mandeep Kaur and another quarter-miler Juana Murmu failed an out-of-competition test by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada). Mandeep tested positive for methandienone and stanozolol while Juana for methandienone.

A day later, quartermiler Sini Jose, fellow 400m runner Tiana Mary Thomas, shot-putter Sonia and men’s long jumper Hari Krishnan Muralidharan also tested positive in Nada tests.

Rocked by the shocking development, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) have already started blaming each other for the mess. While acting IOA president Vijay Kumar Malhotra has questioned the role of SAI-appointed coaches and trainers, SAI accused the athletes of taking food supplements from outside the national camp.

“The coaches and trainers are appointed only after they are approved by Athletics Federation of India (AFI),” said a SAI official adding that an enquiry should be conducted as to why most of the coaches are selected from east European nations. The current sprint coach, Yuri Ogorodinik, is from Ukraine.

The latest development is also a huge blow to India’s chances of retaining the 4x400 metres relay gold medal, an event they had dominated at the continental level for many years. With Mandeep, Sini, Juana and Ashwini caught in the dope net, it would now be difficult for India even to field the relay team in Kobe.
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