Tokyo Olympics | What are anti-doping rules and can Mirabai Chanu bag gold if Chinese weightlifter Hou Zhihui fails dope test?

Gold medalist Hou Zhihui of China, Silver medalist Mirabai Chanu of India and Bronze medalist Windy Cantika Aisah of Indonesia posing at the medal ceremony. (Image: Reuters)

Chinese weightlifter Hou Zhihui is set to face a dope test in Tokyo, media reports citing sources said on July 26. The development comes two days after she won the gold medal, defeating India's Mirabai Chanu.

Zhihui had set a new world record of 210kg in her finals bout against Chanu in the women's 49kg category. Chanu, who ended her Olympic campaign with a silver medal, had managed to lift a total weight of 202kg, eight less than her Chinese rival.

According to reports, there is an "adverse analytical finding" in the samples of Zhihui. This means that further tests would be conducted to ascertain the presence of prohibited substances in her first sample. The gold medalist has also been asked to undergo a fresh dope test, news agency ANI reported.

What are anti-doping rules?

Athletes participating in the Olympic events are barred from using performance-enhancing substances, which includes various types of stimulants and glucocorticoids. The full list of banned substances, as listed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), can be checked here.

Before the games start, the participants are required to submit their samples for tests, along with an undertaking related to the medicines which have been recently administered to them.

Any athlete whose samples are detected with the prohibited substances fails the dope test. If detected before the start of the event, he or she is disqualified as a participant. If the samples are found to be positive for the banned substances after the event, the athlete would be stripped of any performance-linked honour bestowed upon her/him.

The World Anti-Doping Code defines the following ten anti-doping rule violations:

• Presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers in an athlete's sample
• Use or attempted use by an athlete of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method
• Evading, refusing or failing to submit to sample collection
• Tampering or attempted tampering with any part of doping control
• Failure to notify whereabouts for out-of-competition testing
• Possession of any prohibited substance or a prohibited method
• Trafficking or attempted trafficking in any prohibited substance or prohibited method
• Administration or attempted administration to any athlete of any prohibited substance or prohibited method
• Assisting, encouraging, aiding, abetting, conspiring, covering up or any other type of intentional complicity involving an anti-doping rule violation
• Association in a professional or sport-related capacity with a person who has been involved in an anti-doping rule violation

The use of performance-enhancing substances is against the concept of providing a level-playing field to the participants. In addition, taking substances and utilising methods that have been originally developed for entirely different purposes can pose major health risks.

"Doping is an anti-social act that betrays the trust of the spectators and sponsors who have supported an athlete, and when that athlete is competing on behalf of his/her country, it betrays a nation's hopes. In recent times, institutional doping has become a major issue which has transcended the confines of the sporting world, and has led to a massive loss of public trust in the integrity of sport," a statement issued on the official website of International Olympics said.

What if Zhihui Hou fails the dope test? Can Mirabai Chanu get the gold?

As per the rules, if a winner of any category fails the dope test, the immediate runner-up is announced as the new winner. In this case, if Zhihui is found to have violated the anti-doping norms, she would be stripped of her gold title.

In such a scenario, Chanu would be declared as the gold medalist, and Indonesia's Windy Cantika, who came third and bagged the bronze medal, would be announced as the new silver medal holder.

If Chanu ends up winning the gold, which depends on Zhihui's dope test results, she would be the first woman in India to win the honour in the women's weightlifting category.