Olympian javelin thrower Shivpal fails dope test, stares at possible 8-year ban

Olympian javelin thrower Shivpal Singh has failed a dope test for the second time in his career, a development which may see him being banned for a maximum period of eight years if found guilty.

The 29-year-old, who competed at the Tokyo Olympics, is learned to have returned positive for a banned substance when his urine sample taken out of competition earlier this year was tested while he was training at the NIS Patiala.

He has been provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA). “Yes, he has tested positive for a banned substance. It’s his second dope offence,” a source privy to the development told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

If proven guilty and handed a lengthy ban, Shivpal’s career will be as good as over. Under the NADA and WADA rules, an athlete can be banned for a maximum of eight years for a second doping offence.

Shivpal’s best achievement in his career is the silver medal he won at the 2019 Asian Championships in Doha, where he threw his personal best of 86.23m.

Earlier in 2021, Shivpal’s dope sample had tested positive for a steroid in an out-of-competition test. The Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel of NADA, in August 2022, had handed him a four-year ban beginning from 2021, holding him guilty of committing a doping offence.

He was to serve the ban till 2025, but was able to argue successfully before the Appeal Panel of the NADA that “contaminated supplements” were behind his failed dope test.

The Appeal Panel, in January 2023, accepted his contention and reduced the ban period from four years to just one.

He returned to action in April 2023 and won a bronze at the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar in June that year. He also won gold in the 2023 National Games in Goa.