India senior quarter-miler MR Poovamma has been handed a two-year suspension by the national Anti-Doping Appeal Panel (ADAP).
As a result of sanction, Poovamma will miss next year’s Asian Games, World Athletics championships and Asian championships.
Poovamma had tested positive for methylhexaneamine in an in-competition test at the Indian Grand Prix 1 in Patiala on February 18 last year.
Methylhexaneamine is a simulant prohibited substance by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel suspended Poovamma for three months on June 16 but NADA challenged the decision, following which ADAP handed the qurater-miler a two-year suspension.
Since the day of her sample collection, Poovamma had won gold medals at the Indian Grand Prix 2 and 3 and the Federation Cup last year. She won silvers at this year’s Indian Grand Prix 1 and 2 as well silver medal in the Federation Cup in April.
All the results of Poovamma from the time of testing will be disqualified and she would be stripped of all her medals and accolades earned during that periodOne of the mainstays of the Indian women’s 4x400m relay teams since 2013, Poovamma had been part of the team in 2014 and 2018 Asian Games when India clinched the gold medal.
Poovamma, 32, has been an vital part of the women’s 4x400m relay team for nearly a decade and helped the country win gold medals at the Asian Games in 2014 and 2018.
She was also part of the gold-winning women’s relay teams in Asian championships in 2013 and 2017. The team also won the silver in the 2019 Asian championships.
The quarter-miler also won individual medals at the Asian Championships, including a gold in women’s 4x400m in 2013.
