Dhanalakshmi handed three-year ban by AIU for dope flunk

Top Indian sprinter Sekar Dhanalakshmi has been handed a three-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit of the world governing body for failing an out-of-competition dope test in May. Dhanalakshmi's sample taken on May 2 in Antalya, Turkey where she had a training stint along with other Indian athletes, was found to contain metandienone, an an anabolic androgenic steroid and a non-specified substance prohibited at all times under the WADA Code.

The test was done at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland. The period of ineligibility was to be four years for such cases. But Dhanalakshmi admitted to the doping offence and accepted the sanction, which led to a one-year reduction in her ban period.

The 24-year-old Tamil Nadu athlete will now serve a three-year ban from July 11, the date of provisional suspension. Rule 10.8.1 of World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules provides that "an athlete potentially subject to an asserted period of Ineligibility of four years may benefit from a one-year reduction in the period of ineligibility based on an early admission and acceptance of sanction.

"On 19 July 2022, the Athlete returned the Admission of Anti-Doping Rule Violation and Acceptance of Consequences Form signed. "The Athlete shall therefore receive a one year reduction in the asserted period of ineligibility pursuant to Rule 10.8.1 based on an early admission and acceptance of sanction," the AIU said in its decision uploaded on its website.