CHENNAI: In what could be another embarrassing episode for Athletics Federation of India (AFI), Sneha K tested positive for banned substance and is undergoing provisional suspension. It was on Sunday, Sneha's name started doing the rounds for returning positive. Interestingly, the 400m athlete was part of the training camp at the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Thiruvananthapuram.
Sneha was also part of the Asian Athletics Championships underway in Gumi, South Korea and had to be withdrawn because of this. She was tested by the World Athletics’ anti-doping watchdog Athletics Integrity Unit and tested positive for stanozolol. According to the AIU website, she has been served notice of charge. Stanozolol is an anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) and a performance enhancing drugs. It is banned at all times.
This comes days after ace javelin thrower Shivpal Singh tested positive for banned substance and chief national coach of the junior India team, Ramesh Nagpuri, was penalised by National Anti-Doping Agency for reportedly ‘aiding’ evasion. Shivpal was training at the NCOE Patiala. The urine sample was collected during out-of-competition. The AFI had started an audacious plan this year of decentralising the national camps. Athletes testing positive in camps should give a wake-up call to not just the AFI but also the Sports Authority of India (SAI), who is in-charge of the NCOEs. It is indeed a matter of concern if athletes are testing positive in national camps. Sneha has been part of the 4x400m relay team and AFI has made it mandatory for all members to be in the national camp.
India has already started bidding for the 2036 Olympic Games and is keen to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030. But such unsavoury instances will bring in disrepute to the country.
Sneha had represented India at the World Relays on May 10 and 11. She won bronze at the Federation Athletics Championships in April where she clocked her personal best of 53.00s. She also ran at the Indian Grand Prix 2 at Thiruvananthapuram.
The AFI had said that strict action would be taken against coaches. It needs to be seen how they go about Sneha and Shivpal’s positive cases in the NCOEs. However, as of now no action has been taken against any coach apart from the ones National Anti-Doping Agency has penalized. One among them was Nagpuri.
Athletics has been one of the most tainted sports in India. Recently according to a sports ministry's annual report, 43 athletes had tested positive — the highest number — between April 2023 and January 2024. The overall total number stood at 125 positives from 4891 samples.
This also comes after a couple of more embarrassing incidents that took place on foreign shores. Long distance runner Kartik Kumar, silver medal winner at the 2023 Asian Games, tested positive during a test conducted by the United State Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The athlete’s training stint was approved by the AFI and SAI. He was provisionally suspended. This was followed by an incident in Kenya where an Indian national was nabbed with “an illegal consignment of assorted performance enhancing substances” at a high altitude training centre in Iten, Elgeyo-Marakwet County. The AFI issued a diktat that restricted all athletes’ participation in international competitions and training. They have to take permission from the AFI.
