'Innocent' Indian weightlifter Sanjita Chanu will challenge suspension

Sanjita Chanu

Indian weightlifter Sanjita Chanu yesterday said she will challenge the provisional suspension imposed on her for allegedly failing a dope test, insisting that she is innocent. "I am innocent, I have not taken any banned substance. I will challenge this with the help of the national federation," Sanjita told PTI.Sanjita, who had won a gold in the women's 53kg category in the recent Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, was suspended by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) tested positive for testosterone.

The sample was taken during an out-of-competition test prior to the World Championship in Anaheim (US) in November last year. She, however, got the backing of the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) general secretary Sahdev Yadav, who said he was confident of the Manipuri's innocence. "We don't understand why the dope result took so long. After the sample was taken, she competed in the World Championship in November last and then she won a gold in the Gold Coast in April. We will fight it out why this is happening," he said.

"In any case, we have written that we would go for the 'B' sample test. After we got the results we will hire a top lawyer to present our case at the hearing [at the international federation]. I am sure Sanjita has not taken any banned drugs. I am confident we will prove her innocence," he added. Yadav also said that there was no danger of India losing the gold medal won by Sanjita in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April. She lifted a total of 192kg to win that gold in 53kg category. She had also won a gold in the 48kg category in the 2014 CWG in Glasgow.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever