Doping blow puts India’s Asian U20 medals at risk as Nipam Chauhan fails test | More sports News
New Delhi : India face the possibility of losing two athletics medals won at the recent Asian U20 championships in Hong Kong after the country’s fastest junior athlete, Uttar Pradesh sprinter Nipam Chauhan, failed dope tests for stanozolol.The 19-year-old 100m specialist has been placed under provisional suspension by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) pending a hearing before its disciplinary panel. If found guilty, she faces a ban of two to four years and will forfeit the silver and bronze medals won in Hong Kong.Nipam had ended India’s 25-year wait for a podium finish in the women’s 100m at the Asian U20 meet by clocking 11. 62s to win bronze. She later added a silver in the women’s 4x100m relay alongside Kajal Hirabhai Vaja, Bhavana G and Aarti as the quartet finished in 45. 05s.The setback could also strip Nipam of her status as India’s fastest junior woman sprinter. At the Junior Federation Cup in Tumakuru in April, she won the women’s 100m in a national U20 record of 11. 53s, bettering Abinaya Rajarajan’s previous mark of 11. 54s.According to sources, Nipam’s in-competition sample collected on Apr 24 at the junior Fed Cup meet returned positive for a combination of stanozolol drug. Sources said her out-of-competition sample collected on May 12 during the Asian U20 preparatory camp at SAI, Bengaluru, also tested positive for the same banned substance.As a first-time doping offender, Nipam is likely to lose both medals if sanctioned by NADA, leaving Indian athletics facing an embarrassing prospect of being stripped of two podium finishes from the continental junior meet.Speaking to TOI , Nipam said she was devastated and suspected a change in supplements could have led to adverse findings. “This has come as shocking news to me,” she said.
