Wrestling Nationals: Wrestler runs away after seeing Doping officials

Jaipur: The doping menace reared its ugly head again when one of the medalists ran away after seeing the NADA officials at the Senior Wrestling Nationals organized by the Ad-Hoc committee on Monday.

The wrestler vanished after the event and didn't return to the event till it was finished.

“One of the wrestlers who won a medal ran off after seeing the Anti-Doping team asking for a sample after his final bout,” the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) team present at the venue told The Bridge.

Playing in the gold medal bout of a non-Olympic category in men's freestyle, the above mentioned wrestler featured into the medal bout wearing a jersey with a different name written on it.

Once the bout finished, the wrestler was seen running away from the venue removing his jersey while the NADA officials tried to catch the wrestler.

The small cat and mouse chase ended with the wrestler fleeing the venue. He didn't return to the venue leaving the NADA officials to count it as a doping violation.

The NADA officials tried to get in touch with the wrestler but the details submitted by him were incorrect.

While the NADA team refused to reveal any further details, the wrestler is rumoured to be from a big akhada in Haryana.

As per the ruling of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), if an athlete is selected for doping during a national event, it is the responsibility of the athlete to report to the Doping control station immediately.

Apart from one incident, the rest process of sample collection by NADA went smoothly with the wrestlers cooperating.

This is not the first time when Indian wrestlers have ran away from the venue refusing to give the same for doping test to the officials.

The Wrestling Nationals organized by the Ad-Hoc committee were hosted in the Railway Stadium of Jaipur.