Javelin thrower Shivpal handed 10-year ban for second doping offence

CHENNAI: The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) handed a 10-year suspension to javelin thrower Shivpal Singh for a second doping offence after testing positive for the banned substance methandienone.

Key points

• Shivpal, now 31, had appealed against the sanction and managed to convince the Appeal Panel of the NADA that contaminated supplements were behind his flunked dope test.
• In another instance, India's first Asian Games gold-winning heptathlete Swapna Barman has been provisionally suspended by the NADA after testing positive for a banned substance.
• In 2021, the athlete's dope sample had tested positive for a steroid in an out-of-competition test.
• Apart from her, hockey player Mayank Sharma too was banned for four years for failing an out of competition test last year.
• Sprinter MV Jilna too has been provisionally suspended for a second offence after testing positive for mephentermine.

In 2021, the athlete's dope sample had tested positive for a steroid in an out-of-competition test. The Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel of NADA, in August 2022, had handed him a four-year ban beginning from 2021, holding him guilty of committing a doping offence.

Shivpal, now 31, had appealed against the sanction and managed to convince the Appeal Panel of the NADA that contaminated supplements were behind his flunked dope test. Accepting his contention, the Appeal Panel, in January 2023, reduced the ban period from four years to just one. He the returned to action in April 2023 and won a bronze at the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar in June. He additionally won gold in the 2023 National Games in Goa.

Meanwhile, sprinter MV Jilna too has been provisionally suspended for a second offence after testing positive for mephentermine.

In another instance, India's first Asian Games gold-winning heptathlete Swapna Barman has been provisionally suspended by the NADA after testing positive for a banned substance. The 29-year-old has tested positive for banned anabolic-androgenic steroid Boldenone. Her name figures in the NADA's latest list of provisionally suspended athletes. Barman lately unveiled her retirement but the disciplinary proceedings will go on. Barman won the gold medal in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games.

Apart from her, hockey player Mayank Sharma too was banned for four years for failing an out of competition test last year. Furthermore, 19-year-old runner Sanjana Singh. This person won a gold in the women's 1500m and 5000m races in the SAAF Senior Athletics Championships last year, was handed a five-year ban after testing positive for prohibited steroids last year. The duo was already serving provisional suspensions. Wrestler Ronak in Asiad squad after trials' winner fails dope test.

In short, javelin thrower Shivpal handed 10-year ban for second doping offence is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.