India’s 2018 Commonwealth Games medalist in discus throw, Navjeet Kaur Dhillon, runs out of luck, fails dope test for anabolic steroid

Four years ago, India’s 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games bronze medallist in the women’s discus throw, Navjeet Kaur Dhillon, firmly believed that performance can be improved without taking aid of performance-enhancing drugs.

In a dramatic and ironic twist in June this year, the 27-year-old failed a dope test for prohibited substances conducted by the Athletic Integrity Unit (AIU) during an international competition in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

As per the AIU website, the Indian athlete has been banned for a three-year period, beginning on August 11, 2022. Navjeet’s results from June 24, 2022, have also been annulled.

In June, she won a gold medal with a throw of 56.24m at the Qosanov Memorial Athletics Meeting in Kazakhstan. It was a confirmatory competition for the discus thrower to prove her fitness for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Navjeet finished a disappointing eighth at the CWG.

Now, she is among the three athletes sanctioned by AIU on Friday for Anti-Doping Rules Violation (ADRV). As per AIU, she failed the dope test for anabolic steroids (metabolite). Though she blamed food supplements for failing the dope test, she didn’t provide proof of unknowingly consuming the prohibited substances.

However, in a minor relief for her, the standard four-year ban was reduced to three years by AIU.

Navjeet Kaur's career and achievements

The international thrower from Punjab had also won bronze at the 2014 World U20 Athletics Championships.

She made a comeback after a brief hiatus. Her performance gradually declined after a throw of 58.03m earlier this year. In June, her best throw in Almaty was 56.24m, while at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, her best throw was 53.51m. Navjeet's personal best is 59.18m, recorded in February 2018.

Navjeet Kaur is the second elite thrower from Punjab to fail a dope test in recent times. The first is Olympian Kamalpreet Kaur, who failed a dope test for drugs banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

MR Poovamma (400m), Shivpal Singh (javelin throw), Rajender Singh (javelin throw), S Dhanalakshmi (sprints), B Aishwarya (jumps), were the other elite Indian athletes to have failed dope tests in recent times.

Navjeet Kaur's failing dope test is a major setback for Indian athletics, said a senior athletics coach from Punjab.

“At a time when we are looking ahead to the revival of athletics in Punjab, incidents of elite athletes like Navjeet failing dope tests, it sends the wrong message to youngsters,” the coach added.