In what comes as a disheartening news and major jolt for Indian athletics, sprinter Nirmala Sheoran has been banned for four years for doping and stripped of the two major sprint titles she won at the 2017 Asian Championships.

The Athletics Integrity Unit, which manages track and field doping cases, says Nirmala Sheoran tested positive for the steroids drostanolone and metenolone at a competition in India in June 2018.


Nirmala, whose biological passport also showed irregular blood readings, “accepted the charge, did not request a hearing and was ready to accept the consequences,” the AIU says.

The 24-year-old Nirmala Sheoran’s ban was backdated and will take effect on June 29, 2018. Her results from August 2016 to November 2018 were disqualified.

Nirmala Sheoran hogged the limelight at the international stage  when she won gold medals in the 400 meters and 4x400 relay at the 2017 Asian Championships held in India. She ran in both events for India at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, but  was eliminated in the heats