Indian athletes Aishwarya Babu and MV Jilna banned for failing dope tests

Indian triple jumper Aishwarya Babu and sprinter MV Jilna were handed bans by India’s National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), respectively, after testing positive for drugs prohibited by World Anti-doping Agency (WADA).

Aishwarya Babu won the triple jump gold at the National Inter-State Championships in June last year with a national record-breaking leap of 14.14m. She was tested by NADA officers at the same championships. 

The NADA stated that Aishwarya Babu’s sample returned positive for Ostarine. This drug falls in the category of selective androgen receptor modulator (SRAM) and is prohibited by WADA.

Consequently, Aishwarya Babu, 25, will also lose her national record, which will revert back to 14.11m set by Olympian Mayookha Johny in 2011.

The Indian athlete was provisionally suspended in July last year by NADA and has already served around six months of her four-year ban. NADA also revealed that the athlete had not taken a compulsory therapeutic use exemption from the agency prior to using it.

In her reply, Aishwarya Babu stated that she "did not take any prohibited substance in order to enhance" her jumps. The athlete added that she took Ostarine on the advice of her colleague to get rid of shoulder pain ahead of the inter-state championships.

Aishwarya Babu’s response, however, failed to convince NADA’s disciplinary panel.

"It shall be noted that the athlete has failed to satisfy the panel that the ADRV (Anti-Doping Rule Violation) was unintentional…She is hereby sanctioned with an ineligibility of four years. The period of ineligibility shall commence from the date of provisional suspension (July 18, 2022). 

“The athlete is hereby disqualified of all of the individual results obtained in the said event with all consequences, including forfeiture of all medals, points and prizes," it added.

Aishwarya Babu can appeal NADA’s verdict till March 6.

Meanwhile, sprinter MV Jilna, a regular feature on India’s domestic circuit, has been banned for three years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU). Her ban began on June 22, 2022, and she will be ineligible to compete till July 21, 2025. 

The AIU is the independent body created by World Athletics that manages all integrity issues – including doping and age fraud. MV Jilna tested positive for pralmorelin, a growth hormone prohibited by the World Athletics. 

Last year, India’s Tokyo Olympians Shivpal Singh, Kamalpreet Kaur, Dhanalakshmi Sekar along with Navjeet Kaur Dhillon, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, were caught in the doping net.