Javelin thrower Manu suspended for doping offence

Panchkula (Haryana): Indian javelin thrower D P Manu, who was being seen as an Olympic hopeful, has been provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) after testing positive for an anabolic steroid.

A source privy to the development confirmed that Manu's positive test came during the Indian Grand Prix in April this year.

Earlier, Manu was asked to stay away from competitions by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on the instructions of NADA.

The 24-year-old Manu, who won a silver medal at the 2023 Asian Championships, was more or less certain to qualify for the Olympics through world ranking quota but is set to miss the Paris bus after the latest development.

He was in the initial entry list for the National Inter-State Championships which began on Thursday here. But his name has been dropped from the updated roster.

AFI president Adille Sumariwalla said that NADA has asked the federation to stop Manu from competitions but he did not confirm whether the athlete has committed a doping offence.

"There could be something like that, but we still don't know what is the actual thing. There was a phone call to AFI office (from the NADA) yesterday that he (Manu) be stopped from competitions," Sumariwalla said.

"Otherwise there are no details (on what kind of possible violation). I think the athlete himself (Manu) is finding out from the NADA what is the exact thing."

Manu finished second behind Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra with a throw of 82.06m in the Federation Cup from May 15 to 19 in Bhubaneswar. He later won gold in Taiwan Athletics Open in Taipei City on June 1 with a throw of 81.58m.

Manu was 15th in the World Athletics Road to Paris list and on course to qualify for Paris Olympics as 32 athletes will compete in the men's javelin throw event. The qualification deadline is Sunday.

Chopra and Kishore Jena have already secured automatic qualification for the Olympics after breaching the entry standard of 85.50m.

A country can have a maximum of three athletes in an Olympics track and field event.