Senior India quarter-miler and Asian Games medallist MR Poovamma has been handed a three-month ban by the National Anti-Doping Agency for failing a dope test last year. (More Sports News)
The 32-year-old Poovamma dope sample collected durin🌃g the Indian Grand Prix in Patiala in February la💝st year had returned positive for stimulant methylhexaneamine.
Athletics Federation of India (AFI) President Adillle Sumariwalla confirmed t🌳he developm🐲ent.
"Yes, it is correct," he told PTI when asked if Poovཧamma hꦜas been handed such a ban.
He said the suspension order came a few 🐷days back.
T﷽he ban is a huge setback for Povamma as she is set to qualify for the World Championships (July 15-24) in Eugene, USA, on the basis of world ranking quota.
Poovamma was a member of the gold-winning 4x400m🔥 women's and mixed relay𝄹 teams in the 2018 Asian Games and also part of the 4x400m relay squad that won the gold at the 2014 Asian Games.
She also won a bronze in the individual 400m in the 2012 Asian Games. She received Arjuna Award in 20ꦺ15.
There has been speculation over Poovam🌺ma's dope flunk last year after she skipped the relay trials in Patiala just a few weeks🦄 before the Tokyo Olympics. She later left the national camp which had surprised many.
She had clocked a season-best time of 52.44s while finishing second in the Indian Grand Prix in Thiruvananthapuram in March this year. She had also won a silver in the Federation Cup inꦓ Malappuram in April with a time of 52.70s.
