2023 Asian Games hammer thrower Rachna Kumari fails doping test and could face long ban if found guilty
Rachna Kumari finished ninth in the women’s hammer throw at the 2023 Asian Games with an effort of 58.13 meters on September 29.
New Delhi: Indian hammer thrower Rachna Kumari, participant of the Hangzhou Asian Games, has returned positive in a doping test conducted by the International Federation’s Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) ahead of the continental showpiece and has been handed a provisional ban. The doping sample from 30-year-old Kumari, which was taken out of competition, turned out to contain the steroids Stanozolol, Metandienone and Dehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHCMT).
An indictment has been issued to her, the AIU said on its website on Friday, without providing further details. Kumari was previously handed a four-year ban (from March 12, 2015) by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) after testing positive for the anabolic steroid Methenolone.
If found guilty in the latest case being heard by the AIU, Kumari could face a ban of up to eight years as this would be her second offence. That could be the end of her career.
When contacted, Kumari said she had given urine samples to officials working for a foreign doping testing agency in Patiala on September 24. “I have not received any information that I have failed the dope test even though I submitted my urine sample in Patiala on September 24,” she told PTI from her home in Uttar Pradesh.
An Athletics Federation of India (AFI) official also confirmed that Kumari has failed a doping test, but did not provide details about the AIU. “It’s not a NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) matter, it’s an AIU matter, so I don’t know the details,” the official said.
Kumari was part of the 68-member Indian athletics team that competed in the Asian Games in Hangzhou (September 23 to October 8). She had finished ninth in the women’s hammer throw on September 29 with an effort of 58.13 meters.
Kumari had won gold at the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar in June with a throw of 65.03 metres. She had also won a bronze medal at the recent Goa National Games with a throw of 59.85 metres. She has not won any international medal.