NEW DELHI, July 20: Top Indian shot-putter Manpreet Kaur was today suspended provisionally for her second dope offence after she tested positive for a banned steroid, just a couple of days after her first dope flunk.
Manpreet has tested positive for a banned steroid and stimulant dimethylbutylamine in a test conducted on her urine sample taken on April 24 during the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix Meet at Jinhua in China.
The 27-year-old Punjab athlete had hurled the shot put to a distance of 18.86m at the Chinese city (which was then the world leading performance) to win the gold and book a berth for World Championships to be held in London from August 4-13.
Manpreet had also won a gold medal in the recently-concluded Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar.
She will now miss the World Championships as the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has suspended her provisionally for her dope offence.
�We have been informed that she (Manpreet) has tested positive for a steroid and stimulant (dimethylbutylamine). She has been handed provisional suspension by the AFI. She will now be dropped from World Championships team,� AFI president Adille Sumariwalla told PTI.
The Asian Grand Prix comes under the aegis of the continental governing body, the Asian Athletics Association.
If her �B� sample also returns positive, Manpreet could face a ban of up to four years for a first time dope offence.
Manpreet�s second dope offence comes a day after she tested positive for the banned stimulant dimethylbutylamine from her urine sample collected by National Anti-Doping Agency officials during the Federation Cup National Championships held in Patiala from June 1-4.
It is a massive embarrassment for the country which might lose the gold medal clinched by Manpreet earlier this month in Bhubaneswar. � PTI
