India bans Olympic javelin thrower until 2025 for doping

New Delhi, 3 Oct  - Indian anti-doping authorities have suspended Tokyo Olympic javelin thrower Shivpal Singh for four years after he tested positive for a banned drug.

Shivpal, India's second best javelin athlete after Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, was tested out of competition in September last year.

Shivpal, who finished 27th in javelin qualifying at last summer's pandemic-delayed Games, tested positive for methandienone, a performance-enhancing 
steroid.

The 27-year-old's ban by India's anti-doping disciplinary panel comes into effect from his provisional suspension in October last year. It ends in October 2025, the panel said.

Shivpal threw a personal best of 86.23m to win silver at the Asian championships in Doha in 2019.

He adds to the growing list of Indian athletes to be suspended for doping this year, including Tokyo Olympic discuss thrower Kamalpreet Kaur.

India are ranked third in the number of doping violations behind Russia and 
Italy, according to a World Anti-Doping Agency report released last year.