Sudden surge by Aishwarya, Kamalpreet had raised doubts

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New Delhi, May 10

Quarter-miler Aishwarya Mishra’s sudden disappearance has once again raised the spectre of doping in Indian sports. Aishwarya raised eyebrows after she clocked 51.18 seconds to win the 400 metres gold at the Federation Cup in Kozhikode last month.

The latest infringements, including the provisional suspension of Olympian javelin thrower Shivpal Singh, have once again brought India’s doping menace in the limelight. India was placed third on the list of dope cheats in the latest report published by the World Anti-Doping Agency. India reported 152 anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) in 2019, with the maximum offenders coming from bodybuilding (57). Among the Olympics sports, weightlifting led the way with 25 ADRVs, followed by athletics (20) and wrestling (10).

For an athlete who was dropped from the national camp after failing to improve her timings, this sudden improvement was a big red flag for many avid watchers, including a section within the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). Despite the misgivings, AFI asked Aishwarya to join its training camp in Turkey. However, Aishwarya did not join the camp; interestingly, she has since been untraceable.

“This sudden improvement is bound to raise suspicions,” said an AFI insider, adding: “We do not know the real story as of now, but the federation is trying to talk to her to know the reasons why she missed the training camp despite us telling her to join.”

Importantly, Aishwarya is not part of the registered testing pool of either the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) or the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) and she is not bound by rules to share her whereabouts. It is also understood that Aishwarya’s sample was taken by NADA in Kozhikode.

Since then, AFI has been trying to reach the Maharashtra athlete but to no avail. “We have not received any communication from any anti-doping agency so far. But we have not been successful in reaching her,” said a source in the AFI.

A few AFI officials had also been raising suspicion about discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur’s sudden rise. Apparently, AFI officials had raised the issue with the Sports Authority of India officials on a number of occasions, albeit privately. Kamalpreet was suspended provisionally after her sample, collected in out-of-competition testing in March by AIU, showed traces of banned anabolic steroid stanozolol.

Kamalpreet broke into the limelight suddenly after she registered a big throw of 65.06m at the Federation Cup last year. The 26-year-old finished sixth at the Tokyo Olympics with a best throw of 63.70m.