Athlete requires to comply once notified for dope test: AIU cites Varsha's 3-year ban case

New Delhi, Nov 10 (PTI) Track and field's anti-doping watchdog Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Monday revisited the three-year doping ban case of Indian long distance runner Varsha Tekam to drive home the point that once an athlete is notified to take a doping test, he or she is required to comply.

On June 5, Varsha, who had finished second in the Pune Half Marathon last year, was handed a three-year suspension for evading a dope test by the AIU. She was provisionally suspended on May 26.

Varsha was approached for in-competition testing after finishing third in the half marathon held on December 15 last year. She was selected for testing, notified by a Doping Control Officer (DCO) and kept under observation.

While waiting for the victory ceremony, she said she was going to get water but she disappeared into the crowd and never returned, the AIU posted on 'X'.

Despite repeated announcements and calls, she could not be located. No sample was ever collected.

The Technical Delegate also contacted the hotel where the athlete had stayed the previous evening, but the hotel confirmed that she had already checked out of her room earlier that day.

The AIU said evading a test was a serious violation and Varsha was found to have violated Rule 2.3 relating to "evading, refusing or failing to submit to sample collection by an athlete".

The offence normally carries a punishment of four-year ban, but since she admitted the violation early, the sanction was reduced to three years.

Her ban period began from May 20, the date of provisional suspension and her results from December 15, 2024 onwards were disqualified. PTI PDS PDS AT AT