Asian Games 2023 Hammer Thrower Rachna Kumari Fails Dope Test, May Face Long Ban If Found Guilty
New Delhi: India’s Hangzhou Asian Games participant hammer thrower Rachna Kumari has returned positive in a dope test conducted by International federation’s Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) just before the continental showpiece and has been handed provisional suspension. The 30-year-old Kumari’s dope sample, taken out-of-competition, was found to contain steroids Stanozolol, Metandienone and Dehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHCMT).
A notice of allegation has been issued to her, the AIU said on Friday on its website, without giving further details. Kumari has earlier been handed a four-year ban (starting from March 12, 2015) by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) after testing positive for anabolic steroid Methenolone.
If she is found guilty in the latest case to be dealt by the AIU, Kumari could face ban of a maximum period of eight years as it would be her second offence. That could be the end of her career.
When contacted, Kumari said she had given urine samples to officials working for a foreign dope testing agency in Patiala on September 24. “I have not got any information that I have failed dope test, though I had given my urine sample on September 24 in Patiala,” she told PTI from her home in Uttar Pradesh.
An official of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) also confirmed that Kumari has failed a dope test but refrained from giving details as it relates to the AIU. “It is not a NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) case but of AIU, so I don’t know the details,” the official said.
Kumari was part of the 68-member Indian athletics team that competed in the Hangzhou Asian Games (September 23 to October 8). She had finished ninth in the women’s hammer throw event with an effort of 58.13m on September 29.
Kumari had won gold in the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar in June with a throw of 65.03m. She had also won a bronze medal in the recent Goa National Games with a throw of 59.85m. She has not won any international medal.