New Delhi: Two Indian athletes, who qualified to play in the Commonwealth Games, have got positive results on the dope tests. S Dhanalakshmi, who is currently India’s fastest woman sprinter, and triple jumper Aishwarya Babu were caught taking banned drugs according to PTI. Both the athletes have been ruled out of the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Sprinter Dhanalakshmi returned positive for a banned steroid in a dope test conducted by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of the World Athletics. On the other hand, Aishwarya was tested by NADA officials during the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Chennai last month.
Dhanalakshmi was set to represent India in the 100 m and 4×100 m relay categories along with athletes like Hima Das and Dutee Chand. She, even after qualifying for the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Oregon, missed it due to an issue with attaining her visa. This means she has missed a chance to play in two big international events this year. Dhanalakshmi clocked 22.89 seconds and won 200m gold at the Qosanov Memorial Athletics Meet on June 26. With this timing, she has become the third fastest Indian woman sprinter after national record holder Saraswati Saha (22.82s) and Hima Das (22.88s).
Aishwarya Babu qualified to represent India in Women’s Long Jump and Triple Jump. She recently broke the national triple jump record by jumping 14.14 m at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Chennai. She also produced a long jump of 6.73 m in the qualification round in Chennai. With this, she is just 0.10 m shy of Anju Bobby George’s 6.83 m effort.
The Commonwealth Games will be held from July 28 to August 8 in Birmingham, UK.
