CHENNAI: India's top sprinter Dutee Chand has apparently tested positive for banned substances and has been provisionally suspended. According to a document, she has tested positive for drugs classified as Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator (SARM). It is banned at all times under S1.2 of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of prohibited substances.
The S1.2 comes under 1 Anabolic Agent – .2. Other anabolic agents, Including, but not limited to: "Clenbuterol, selective androgen receptor modulators, [SARMs, e.g. andarine, LGD-4033 (ligandrol), enobosarm (ostarine) and RAD140], tibolone, zeranol and zilpaterol."
National record holder in 100m and Asian Games medalist Dutee, however, denied this and said she has received no such communication from anyone so far.
"I also got some social media screenshots sent to me but so far I have not received any such communication from NADA or WADA," she told The New Indian Express on Wednesday. "I have lived in controversy. There's always one thing or the other. And I have been competing in the highest level and I never had any doping offence so far. On top of that there was no competition in December either. The document needs to be verified properly."
An Adverse Analytical Finding report of NADA that has apparently been sent to Dutee has said that she tested positive for SARMs. The urine sample apparently was collected out-of-competition in Bhubaneswar on December 5. She tested positive for andarine and its metabolites, enobosarm (ostarine) and ligandrol (LGD- 4033) – all considered SARMs. Her provisional suspension is from the date of sample collection.
The offence can attract a ban up to four years for such offence. If she accepts the offence then there is a provision to reduce the ban by a year. Usually, the final outcome of the AAF is done after a B sample test and a hearing.
The Athletics Federation of India said it cannot say much on this on technical grounds. But AFI did say that when the anti-doping violation occurred (date on which sample was collected) she was not part of a national camp. "She was not with any national camp for some time now and was practicing on her own," said a top official. "She was training outside AFI’s jurisdiction and we did not know where she was during that period."
Of late, ligandrol has been detected in quite a few samples in the country. It is a Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator (SARM) that was developed to treat elderly patients suffering from muscle and nerve damage. It is illegal to buy anywhere in the world as the American company developing it has still not approved it for human consumption. But the drug is freely available on the black market especially in eastern European countries, with many online sites selling it. There were even reports that it was being used on racehorses.