Picture Credit: Twitter
The speculations regarding the Dipa Karmakar's absence from all the competitions has settled as the fresh reports have confirmed that the Indian gymnast is currently serving a two-year ban for an anti-doping violation under the whereabouts rule. The recipient of Khel Ratna, rose to fame after she finished fourth at the Rio Olympics 2016 in the vault event.
The news about her suspension broke out in March this year, but there was no confirmation regarding the exact reason behind her punishment. While few reports claimed that she was being punished for an ethical or disciplinary issue, few even suggested doping violation. However, Times of India reports have recently confirmed that the gymnast is currently serving two-year ban for anti-doping violation.
The TOI report further claimed that the officials in Sports Authority of India (SA) and NADA have blamed Nandi, who has coached Dipa since her childhood and was instrumental in her rise to the top, for Dipa's failure to file her whereabouts on the Anti-Doping Administration Management System managed by WADA.
According to the guidelines, if an athlete in the registered testing pool (RTP) commits three whereabout failures (which can be a combination of filing failure and missed tests) in a 12-month period, it will constitute an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) and he/she will be sanctioned for a period of ineligibility of 12 to 24 months or more for subsequent offences.
Talking about Dipa's case, it has been reported that it was the responsibility of Nandi to submit her whereabouts information on the ADAMS as an athlete agent. However, athletes are ultimately responsible for their whereabouts and, as a result, they cannot avoid responsibility by blaming their representative for filing inaccurate whereabouts or for failing to update their whereabouts if they were not at the location specified by them during the 60-minute timeslot.
A list of gymnasts - 13 in total - mentions Dipa's name among the athletes suspended by the FIG. The Indian gymnast is struggling with injuries ever since she underwent a surgery to treat anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in 2017. Her last FIG event was the 2019 World Cup in Baku. She didn't compete at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 after failing to secure qualification owing to knee injury.
