Aishwarya Babu had been provisionally suspended in July 2022 and has already served six months of her ban for testing positive.
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Indian triple jumper Aishwarya Babu has been handed a four-year ban by the National Anti-Doping Agency’s (NADA) disciplinary panel. This was because she tested positive for the prohibited substance Ostarine. The athlete had been provisionally suspended in July 2022 and has already served six months of her ban. Aishwarya has until March 6 to file an appeal against the ban. Aishwarya had won the gold at the National Inter-State Championships in June 2021 with a record-breaking jump of 14.14m. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) dropped her from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, along with sprinter S Dhanalakshmi, after testing positive for Ostarine. The drug is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) prohibited list. It also falls into the category of selective androgen receptor modulator (SRAM).
NADA stated that Aishwarya Babu had not taken a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for the substance. It also added that it was an “anabolic steroid” under WADA’s 2022 prohibited list. The disciplinary panel ruled that Aishwarya had violated Articles 2.1 & 2.2 of the NADA ADR (Anti-Doping Regulations). It also stated that the athlete had “totally disregarded the rule and took Ostarine tablets on the advice of her colleague.”
Aishwarya Babu claimed in her submission that she had not taken any prohibited substance to enhance her performance. She had suffered a shoulder injury while lifting weights in the gym in February 2021. In the run-up to the National Inter-State Championships, she pushed herself too much. This led to “painful discomfort on the same place (shoulder).” Her colleague, Jagdish, had suggested she take Ostarine to get rid of the pain and heal the muscle. The disciplinary panel questioned why Aishwarya did not seek treatment from a hospital or registered medical practitioner and disqualified the athlete from all individual results obtained in the event, including forfeiture of all medals, points, and prizes.
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The disciplinary panel said, “In view of the facts, circumstances, precedents and rules, it is held that the athlete has violated Article 2.1 & 2.2 of the NADA ADR (Anti-Doping Regulations), 2021. She is hereby sanctioned with an ineligibility of four years. The period of ineligibility shall commence from the date of provisional suspension i.e., 18.07.2022. It shall be noted that the athlete has failed to satisfy the panel that the ADRV (Anti-Doping Rule Violation) was non-intentional as per Article 10.2.1.1 of the NADA ADR, 2021.” “The athlete is hereby disqualified of all of the individual results obtained in the said event with all consequences, including forfeiture of all medals, points, and prizes,” the statement read.
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