On the eve of the Asian athletics championship, India had its share of embarrassment as one of its top athletes, woman shot-putter P. Udayalaxmi of Andhra Pradesh, tested positive for banned substance methylhexaneamine.
153 samples collected
The National Anti-Doping Agency had collected 153 samples from the 53rd National inter-State athletics championship held in Chennai early last month and received the results of 151, of which the sample of Udayalaxmi tested positive. Udayalaxmi had thrown the iron ball to a distance of 13.68m to claim the gold medal in Chennai.
Automatic choice
Because of her performance, 39-year-old Udayalaxmi was an automatic choice for the Indian team in the Asian athletics championship, starting in Pune from Wednesday.
Neha Singh, who had come second, had recorded 13.56m, while third-placed Navjit Kaur had achieved 13.49m.
The women’s shot-put event in Pune is scheduled to be held on Saturday.
