Date:03/12/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/03/stories/2006120312381800.htm

Sport - Athletics

Seema tests positive; Doha trip all but ruled out

DOHA: Woman discus thrower Seema Antil has tested positive in a dope test conducted by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Delhi. Her participation in the Asian Games here is all but ruled out. The athletics events begin on December 7.

No confirmation was available about the substance that had turned up in the test, but sources indicated that it was a steroid. Seema had tested positive for a stimulant in the World junior championship in Santiago de Chile in 2000 and was then stripped of her gold medal and issued a public warning.

With the previous offence being for a stimulant and the latest positive having come from a non-accredited laboratory it is a moot point whether this could be considered as a second offence leading to a life-ban.

The 23-year-old Haryana woman was recalled from a training camp in Muscat, Oman, during the final phase of her preparation for the Games and will now await further proceedings to be initiated by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). She will be given an opportunity to seek a `B' sample test.

Holder of the national record at 64.64m, Seema had won the silver medal (60.56m) in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March. She had shown a slump in her form after that with a best of only 58.52m in the past two months. — Special Correspondent