After a hearing last month, a disciplinary panel of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) cleared star sprinter Hima Das to compete again at the Indian Grand Prix 1 in Bengaluru on Tuesday, according to sources. The NADA temporarily suspended the 24-year-old Hima last year due to three whereabouts failures in a 12-month period. Her name was on the Athletics Federation of India’s entry list for the women’s 200-meter race at the IGP 1 on April 30.
“She was set free in a hearing by the NADA Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel last month,” an Indian athletics team source told PTI on conditions of anonymity. The source did not go into detail on how she was given permission by the NADA disciplinary panel to compete once more.
Hima had won a silver medal in the 400 meters at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. Additionally, she participated in the women’s and mixed 4×400-meter relay quartets that won gold and silver in Jakarta.
Because of an injury she had earlier in the year, the Assamese runner was left off of the Hangzhou Asian Games roster last year.
Latest News on Olympics
When it was discovered in September of last year that Hima had made three whereabouts errors in a single year, the NADA temporarily suspended her. It was unclear at the time whether Hima’s disappearance was due to a missed test or a filing error. If found guilty, her sentence would have been reduced to a minimum of one year, contingent on the severity of her offense. The maximum sentence was two years.
However, with the clearance received, Hima is free to resume her career.
Editors pick
