Weightlifter Sanjita Chanu Handed Four-Year Ban For Failing Dope Test

The 29-year-old who hails from Manipur hasn't yet reacted to the ban but has an option to appeal the decision.

India's gold medalist Sanjita Chanu Khumukcham celebrates with her medal on the podium at the medal ceremony for the women's weightlifting 48kg class at the SECC Precinct during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Source : AFP

In what comes as a huge setback for Sanjita Chanu, the weightlifter has received a four-year ban by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) for failing a dope test last year. Notably, the two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist had tested positive for an anabolic steroid -- Drostanolone Metabolite- that is part of World Anti-doping Agency's (WADA) prohibited list. She had returned positive for this drug during the in-competition testing at the National Games in Gujarat held in September-October last year. 

However, the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) president Sahdev Yadav has now confirmed that Chanu has been handed a four-year ban by NADA. "Yes, she has been handed a four-year ban by NADA," he told news agency PTI. As a result of the positive test for the prohibited substance, Sanjita Chanu will now be stripped of her National Games silver medal.

The 29-year-old who hails from Manipur hasn't yet reacted to the ban. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games competition, it was Sanjita who had won the gold in the 48 kg category in Glasgow. Four years later, at the 2018 edition of the tournament in Gold Coast, she once again bagged the top position at the podium but this time around in the 53 kg category.

While the weightlifter can still choose to appeal the decision, there is no clarity on whether she will choose to do the same.

It is pertinent to note that this is not for the first time that Sanjita is in the middle of a doping controversy as she had earlier been  banned by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) in 2018 after she had tested positive for  anabolic steroid testosterone ahead of the World Championships in November 2017.

Three years later, in 2020, the world body had found "non-conformities" in the way her sample was treated and hence the charges had to be dropped.