New Delhi: Gomathi Marimuthu, who won the 800 metres gold at the Asian Championships last month, was Tuesday handed a provisional suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.
The ‘A’ sample of the 30-year-old runner from Tamil Nadu, who clocked a little over two minutes while winning the god April 22, has returned positive for a steroid in the test conducted during the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha.
If her ‘B’ sample also tests positive, she faces a maximum ban of four years – as this will be her first doping offence – while the gold will be deducted from India’s tally. India had won three gold, seven silver and as many bronze medals in the Asian Championships.
“Yes, Gomathi has tested positive for a steroid and she has been placed under provisional suspension,” a top source told this agency Tuesday on condition of anonymity.
It has been learnt that Gomathi had earlier tested positive for a banned substance in the sample the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) collected in Patiala during the March 15-18 Federation Cup but was not communicated by the national anti-doping watchdog on time.
“We have learnt that Gomathi also tested positive in the sample taken during the Federation Cup which was held in mid-March. But that report is yet to reach us even now, after more than two months. That report is on the way, we have told. If the report was handed to us on time, she would have been stopped from taking part in the Asian Championships and the country would have been saved from this humiliation,” the Athletics Federation of India(AFI) official stated.
Gomathi has been on the national circuit for some time but her timing has been mediocre. Not a national camper, Gomathi’s 2:03.21s performance that gave her a gold in the Federation Cup in March raised questions over her sudden improvement.
“She was not in the national camp and that is why we have been emphasising on the requirement that athletes who have to take part in the international events should be from the national camp,” the official added.
PTI