Picture Credit: Twitter
One of India’s star sprinters, Hima Das, has been provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for breaking the whereabouts rules. The 23-year-old has reportedly committed three whereabouts failures in a span of 12 months, which constitutes an anti-doping rule violation.
According to the World Anti-Doping (WADA) rules, athletes need to provide accurate and updated information about their location and availability for testing. Any combination of three missed tests or filing failures within a 12-month period can result in a suspension. The two-time Asian Games gold medallist runner has not been named in the 2023 Asian Games team due to an injury she sustained earlier in the year.
“Yes, she has committed three whereabout failures in one year period and so she has been provisionally suspended by the NADA," an Indian team official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Das could be suspended for one to two years, which will depend on the severity of her violation. The 400m individual silver medallist at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games suffered a hamstring pull and hence missed the Inter-State Athletics Championships, which was the final selection trials for the upcoming Asian Games. She was also a part of the gold and silver winning women’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m relay quartets in Jakarta.
