Athletics dope hearing adjourned till Oct 4

The dope hearing of the six tainted track and field athletes has been adjourned for October 4

New Delhi: The dope hearing of the six tainted track and field athletes, including Asian Games double gold medallist Ashwini Akkunji, has been adjourned for October 4 after their counsel sought for more documents.

All the six athletes -- Mandeep Kaur, Sini Jose, Mary Tiana Thomas, Priyanka Pawar, Jauna Murmu and Akkunji – who flunked dope tests for banned steroids were present at the hearing at the National Anti-Doping Agency headquarters on Wednesday. After they sought for documents relating to their `B` sample testing, the NADA Anti-Disciplinary Panel headed by retired District Judge Dinesh Dayal adjourned the case till October 4. In the last hearing on August 18, the six quartermilers had sought some documents relating to the testing of their `A` samples. Out of the eighth athletes, whose positive tests led to one of the country`s biggest doping scandals, shot putter Sonia has been handed a two-year ban by the NADA Anti-Disciplinary Panel. The case of long jumper Harikrishna Muralidharan will come up separately on September 16. The `B` samples of all the eight athletes have returned positive for anabolic steroids and they have been put under provisional suspension. PTI