Dope Shame: Khelo India medallists among athletes suspended

NEW DELHI: A Commonwealth Youth weightlifting champion, multiple Khelo India Games medallists and an Asian junior championships bronze-winning wrestler have figured in the latest list of dope offenders released by the National Antidoping Agency (NADA).NADA has provisionally suspended the athletes pending formal hearings to decide the period of ban. The urine samples of the sanctioned athletes revealed traces of anabolic steroids.

In its updated list of athletes suspended for various dope offences, NADA said the promising international weightlifter from Mizoram, Lalruatfela, tested positive for stanozolol during an in-competition testing. Lalruatfela won gold in the men’s 81kg category at the Commonwealth youth meet in Greater Noida in 2023 and set a new national record in clean and jerk by lifting 174kg in the 89kg category at the Nationals in 2024.Three Khelo India athletes also failed dope tests for banned steroids — Bihar’s Khushboo Kumari, Chandigarh’s Achalveer Karwasra and Delhi’s Chirag Sehgal. Weightlifter Khushboo tested positive for SARMS (LGD 4033) ligandrol, while boxer Achalveer failed the dope test for metandienone. Professional cyclist and national medallist Sehgal was sanctioned for drostanolone.Sehgal was a national champion in road racing and a Khelo India University Games (KIUG) bronze winner in the same event, apart from being an All India University (AIU) gold medallist in track cycling.

Khushboo won gold in the women’s 77kg category at last year’s KIUG in Bikaner. Achalveer was a women’s welterweight category champion at the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) in Panchkula 2022.The sample of Anuj Kumar Vishnoi, a men’s freestyle wrestler, revealed traces of methandienone. Vishnoi was a gold medal-list at the Nationals.Other athletes sanctioned by NADA included wrestlers Guradeshwar Singh and Manjunath N Goudappanavar, and boxer Sahil.