CHENNAI: In what could be another shocking and embarrassing incident, a top Indian weightlifter failed a dope test recently. It is understood that the weightlifter is country's No 1 in certain weight category and has won medals at Commonwealth Championships and was in line to represent the country at Commonwealth Games in July-August and the Asian Games in September-October.
It is learnt that the weightlifter was tested out of competition last month where he was training and was part of a national camp. The lifter, in question, recently won medals at the Asian Weightlifting Championship and was considered a strong medal contender at the 2026 CWG. The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) conducted the test but is yet to update the list of offenders on its official website. It is learnt that the lifter has left the camp after being apprised of the development.
Weightlifting has always been one of the most tainted disciplines in Indian sport with top lifters including international and national medallists testing positive time to time. The positive case has also raised concerns about the sports' clean approach. India has been topping the doping charts of World Anti-Doping Agency and recently its chief Witold Banka had said that the country is the largest producer of illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). The sports ministry is taking steps to criminalise supply of doping as well.
IPL: Lesser dope tests this season
Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, who has been in pristine form, Rinku Singh, Fin Allen, Lungi Ngidi, are some of the names whose samples have been collected for dope testing in April. However, this year the NADA seems to be going slow on Indian Premier League. As per data available on the NADA website, the number of tests conducted during the IPL seems to be around 29 (both out of competition and in competition) at various places, way less than the tests conducted in 2025 and 2024 in the month of April. The number of tests conducted in 2025 was around 49 while in 2024 it was somewhere around 47. The May data is yet to be released, hopefully the numbers will climb. In 2025, NADA had collected about 12 samples in May and in 2024 in the same month it was 17.
