Poovamma who won bronze in individual 400m in the Asian games and received Arjuna Award in 2015 gets a ban for 2 years.
MR Poovamma the senior Indian quarter-miler and Asian games medallist was handed a two-year ban for failing a dope test last year as the Anti-Doping Appeal Panel decided to hand her a suspension of three months.
The 32-year-old athlete’s dope sample was collected on February 18 last year after the result came out, she was found positive for stimulant methylhexaneamine which is a specified substance under World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The ADAP gave her three months of suspension in June.
As the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) appealed against the disciplinary panel’s decision Poovamma received a two-year ban.
Abhinav Mukherjee the head of the Anti-Doping Appeal Panel said: “We set aside impugned order dated 16.06.2022 as passed by Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel and allow the appeal of NADA and consequently impose a sanction of 02 years under Article 10.2.2 ineligibility upon the athlete”.
The appeal panel said, “once the presence of the prohibited substance is established in the body of the athlete and no exculpatory or mitigating circumstances exist, the natural consequences under the ADR follow”.
MR Poovamma was a part of the women’s 4x400m relay squad winning gold for India in the Asian games in 2014. She even won bronze in an individual 400m in the 2012 Asian games for which she received the Arjuna award in 2015.
The doubt started when she failed the dope test last year and missed her trials in Patiala weeks before the Tokyo Olympics after which she left the national camps, surprising many.
With 53.39 and 52.44 sec timing, she won silver medals in Indian Grand Prix 1 and 2 in Thiruvananthapuram on March 13 and 23. She also secured a silver in the federation cup in Malappuram in April with a timing of 52.70 sec.
Unfortunately, she will be stripped of all three medals per the rules.
