400m runner Priyanka Panwar handed 8-year ban: Sources

Priyanka Panwar, a 2014 Asian Games women's relay gold medallist, has been slapped an eight-year ban for failing a dope test for the second time, sources close to the development here said on Monday.

Panwar had tested positive for the stimulant mephentermine during the Inter-State Athletics Championships held at Hyderabad from June 28 to July 2, last year. She was under provisional suspension since then.

Panwar was selected for the Rio-bound 4x400m relay team, but was later dropped. She was replaced by Ashwini Akkunji.

National Anti Doping Agency's (NADA) disciplinary panel has handed out the verdict on the 29-year-old Uttar Pradesh athlete, said the sources who wished to remain unidentified.

The NADA code stipulates that athletes caught for a second anti-doping rule violation get a sanction ranging from eight years to a maximum life-time ban.

The athlete's national and international medals stand forfeited with immediate effect.

Panwar had failed a dope test in 2011 for an anabolic steroid. She was among six top women quarter-milers who had failed dope tests. All the six were banned for two years.

After she returned from the two-year ban in 2013, she was selected for the national camp, and included in the Incheon Asian Games relay squad.

--IANS

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