New Delhi: Asian champion shot-putter Manpreet Kaur has found herself entangled in the dope net after testing positive for a banned stimulant. This has come as a massive embarrassment for the country and along with her India stand to lose the gold medal she had won at the recently-concluded Asian Athletics Championship (AAC2017) in Bhubaneswar. Kaur has tested positive for stimulant dimethylbutylamine.
The test was conducted by national anti-doping officials during the Federation Cup National Championships at Patiala, June 1-4. She has not been put under provisional suspension as dimethylbutylamine is a specified substance under the WADA code but India will lose the gold medal she won in Bhubaneswar if her confirmatory ‘B’ urine sample test also returns positive.
“Manpreet has tested positive in a test conducted during the Federation Cup in June. Her urine sample has been found to have stimulant dimethylbutylamine,” an Athletics Federation of India (AFI) official told this agency Wednesday. “We have been notified by NADA about this last (Tuesday) night,” he added.
When contacted for a response, Manpreet’s coach Karamjeet, who is also her husband, said, “We have not yet been told about anything.”
According to sources, this is the first time that an athlete has been caught for using dimethylbutylamine, which is structurally related to methylhexanamine, a stimulant which was found to have been used by several sporstpersons just before the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Manpreet has already qualified for next month’s World Championships at London but the latest development will definitely rule her out of the mega-event.
“We have not thought about it (about her World Championships participation). But we cannot lose our face on that big stage. We have to figure out about that,” the AFI official asserted.
Manpreet had set a national record in the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix meet in Jinhua (China) with a throw of 18.86m which fetched her a gold medal as well as a World Championships berth. Later, she won golds in the Federation Cup, Asian Championships and the National Inter-State Championships which ended Tuesday at Guntur.
It should also be stated here that decathlete Jagtar Singh, who had been selected to the Indian squad for the Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar could not take part in the event as he had also tested positive just before the event for a banned substance. He did not even accompany the team to Bhubaneswar.
Key notes
Manpreet is the second athlete to test positive among those whose samples were collected during the Federation Cup. The first was decathlete Jagtar Singh
Manpreet has been provisionally suspended by the AFI and will also the London Worlds
