World Athletics (WA) has suspended discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur, a sixth-place finisher in the Tokyo Olympics, for three years, effective March 29.
The WA's Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said in a ruling published on its website on Wednesday that Kaur admitted the anti-doping rule breach and accepted the penalties, therefore the otherwise relevant sentence of four years was reduced by one year as permitted by the regulations.
Kaur tested positive for the steroid stanozolol in a sample collected by the AIU on March 7 in Patiala. The AIU temporarily suspended her on March 29. With the latest decision, all of her results from March 7 would be annulled, with the resulting consequences of loss of awards and prize money from that date.
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Kaur went through a lengthy "supplements testing" process before finally accepting her guilt and agreeing to the recommended punishment. According to the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) 2021 Code, an athlete can admit to a rule infringement within 20 days after being charged in order to receive a one-year reduction from a maximum four-year sentence.
Kaur had listed "many supplements" on her doping control form (DCF), and when the notification was given, she wanted to know the financial consequences of requesting a 'B' sample test and, later, the laboratory document package. The Lausanne authorised laboratory evaluated her sample.
The AIU granted her permission to have the supplement tested at the National Dope Testing Laboratory in New Delhi. She did, however, advise the AIU that she had tested four of the supplements at a private lab and that one protein supplement had tested positive for "traces of steroid."
She was subsequently authorised to have that protein supplement tested at the NDTL, which found stanozolol in it as well.
Kaur was unable to produce an unopened packet of the supplement in question, nor any remaining portion of it, because she said that she had sent the remaining of the supplements for testing on the suggestion of her coach.
On the tests and reports, the AIU sought the advice of its scientific advisor. His opinion was that "as a matter of pharmacokinetics, the administration of the reference protein supplement as documented and recounted by the athlete was not compatible with the adverse analytical finding."
Following that, the AIU issued a charge notice alerting her of the penalties and giving her time until September 21 to answer. According to AIU, she had not proved how the forbidden substance entered her body and had so violated anti-doping rules. The AIU notified her that she would be suspended for four years.
On September 27, Kaur returned the "admission of ADRV and acceptance of sanctions" form, allowing her to receive a three-year sentence rather than the customary four-year suspension for a steroid offence.
Kaur surprised everyone last year when she set a national record of 65.06m on March 19 in Patiala. Later, racing alone in Patiala, she went 66.59 metres. Even now, it is unclear whether the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will recognise the latter mark as a national record.
At the Tokyo Games, Kaur went 64.00m to qualify for the final, where she finished sixth with a record of 63.70m.
The AIU has suspended Kaur as the third Indian athlete this year. Previously, sprinter Dhanalakshmi was suspended for three years, while discus thrower Navjeet Kaur Dhillon received the same punishment after acknowledging their wrongdoing.
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