Javelin thrower Shivpal falls in doping net

New Delhi: Olympian javelin thrower Shivpal Singh has failed a dope test for the second time in his career, a development which may see him being banned for a maximum period of eight years if found guilty.

The 29-year-old, who competed at the Tokyo Olympics, is learnt to have returned positive for a banned substance when his urine sample taken out of competition earlier this year was tested. He was training at the NIS Patiala then.

He has been provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).

“Yes, he has tested positive for a banned substance. It’s his second dope offence,” a source privy to the development said.

If proven guilty and handed a lengthy ban, Shivpal’s career will be as good as over. Under the NADA and WADA rules, an athlete can be banned for a maximum eight years for a second doping offence.

Earlier in 2021, Shivpal’s dope sample had tested positive for a steroid in an out-of-competition test. The Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel of NADA, in August 2022, had handed him a four-year ban beginning from 2021, holding him guilty

of a doping offence.