National Games gold stripped from Triple Jumper A.B. Arun due to doping violation

Triple jumper A.B. Arun's gold medal victory at the National Games has been nullified after being found guilty of a doping offence as per a report from Sportstar.

Arun, who astounded spectators with a remarkable leap of 16.79 meters in Goa last November, had initially clinched the top spot with his record-breaking performance, surpassing the previous National Games record set by Asian Games bronze medallist Praveen Chithravel.

However, recent updates on the Athletics Federation of India's website have revealed Arun's disqualification, citing a doping violation. Following Arun's disqualification, Karthik Unnikrishnan of Services, who initially finished second with a jump of 16.57 meters, has been elevated to the gold medal position.

Among the disqualified athletes are Ajay Kumar from Goa, Harjodhvir Singh from Punjab, Parveen Kumar from Haryana, Farman Ali from Uttar Pradesh, Kamaljeet Kaur and Drashti Chaudhari from Punjab, and Rachana and V. Neha from Uttar Pradesh and Kerala respectively, representing a range of events and disciplines.

Arun's impressive showing throughout 2023 solidified his status as one of the nation's top jumpers, marking a significant improvement from his previous best of 16.37 meters recorded in 2022.

Commenting on the incident to Sportstar, Arun's coach, Shankar, revealed that Arun had diligently disclosed the substances he consumed, including proteins and ginseng, to doping control officials. However, an oversight in failing to report the use of voveran, a pain relief medication, ultimately led to his disqualification.