Para athlete Simran Sharma may lose Worlds medals after guide fails dope test

Bengaluru: Para athlete Simran Sharma is expected to lose her two medals won at the recently-concluded World Para Athletics Championships after her guide Umar Saifi was provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency.

As per the list updated by NADA on its official website, 20-year-old Umar tested positive for the banned substance Drostanolone, which is an anabolic-androgenic steroid. While NADA is yet to share the details of where the athlete was tested, all of Umar's result since the day of testing now stands cancelled and is likely to include his recent participation at the Worlds.

Under the International Paralympic Committee’s anti-doping code, athlete support personnel, including guide runners, must comply with doping rules. A violation by the guide leads to the disqualification of the athlete’s results and forfeiture of medals.

25-year-old Simran, who is visually impaired, had won gold in the women’s T12 100m and silver in the 200m, upgraded from bronze after Venezuela’s Perez Lopez was disqualified. She also set an Asian record of 24.46 seconds in the 200m, all of which now stands to be nullified.

Simran, however, won't be facing any suspension but Umar is now staring at a ban of up to four years for the first offence unless he can establish that the intake of the steroid was unintentional. Under such circumstances, the quantum of punishment will be reduced by two years. Also, a prompt admission to the doping offence (within 20 days of being notified) will reduce the suspension to three years.