Athletics
National record holder Aishwarya Babu fails dope test
Aishwarya Babu, who had broken an 11-year-old national record in triple jump last month, faces a ban ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
Aishwarya Babu after her Triple Jump National Record last month (AFI)
In a double blow for Indian athletics on Wednesday, national record-holding triple jumper Aishwarya Babu has tested positive for a banned substance. This comes immediately after the news of star sprinter Dhanalakshmi also testing positive.
Both Dhanalakshmi and Aishwarya Babu had been named in India's 36-member Athletics contingent for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. Both are set to miss out.
The 25-year-old Aishwarya's dope sample, taken by the NADA officials during the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Chennai last month, returned a positive result. "Triple jumper Aishwarya Babu's sample, taken during the National Inter-State Championships, has returned positive," a source told PTI on Wednesday.
Aishwarya had smashed the triple jump national record with a stunning effort of 14.14m to emerge the undisputed star of the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships (June 10-14) in Chennai. The Karnataka athlete had gone past Mayookha Johny's 11-year-old record of 14.11m.
She had earlier taken the athletics fans in the country by surprise when she leapt a massive distance of 6.73m in women's long jump qualifying round at the same event. This was the best-ever jump by an Indian woman other than the legendary Anju Bobby George.
