The Hindu : Sport / Weightlifting : Shailaja provisionally suspended

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 02, 2006

Sport

Sport - Weightlifting

Shailaja provisionally suspended

New Delhi: Lifter P. Shailaja, a strong gold medal contender for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, was on Wednesday provisionally suspended for testing positive for a banned drug.

The 22-year-old Shailaja was found to have traces of a banned substance stanozol during a random out-of-competition test by World Anti-Doping Agency officials during their recent visit to Patiala. ``Report has been received from International Weightlifting Federation that her (Shailaja's) sample has returned adverse analytical findings such as stanozol, a metabolite of stanozolol which is a anabolic steroid. We are shocked to receive the report of positive finding,'' IWF general secretary Balbir Singh Bhatia said on Wednesday.

``Shailaja has been provisionally suspended by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). We are requesting the world body for testing her `B' sample,'' he added.

Pulls out

Immediately after receiving the communication from the world body, the Indian Weightlifting Federation decided to pull her out of the squad for the Commonwealth Games. ``The Indian Weightlifting Federation has also pulled her out of the team for the Commonwealth Games. Sports Authority of India (SAI) has been requested to remove her from the on-going camp at NIS, Patiala,'' he said. — PTI

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