Dipa Karmakar suspended for 21 months after testing positive for banned substance

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar shocked the sports fraternity with her announcement that unfortunately she had tested positive for a prohibitive substance higenamine and is serving 21 months of suspension.

Dipa Karmakar put out a statement accepting the suspension and her ban was also confirmed by the International Testing Agency later. She further went on to add that she will return to competitive gymnastics by July 2023 as the ban was reduced by three months and also been backdated by two-and-half months. Therefore, according to the most recent developments, the suspension will only be in effect until July 10, 2023.

Karmakar is among the most prominent gymnasts in India and she hails from the state of Tripura. She first came into the limelight with her performance in the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she won a bronze medal in the women's vault final and became the first Indian to win a gymnastics medal at the Commonwealth Games.

She also won a bronze medal at the Asian Championships and finished fourth at the Rio Olympics in 2016. She performed the incredibly difficult Produnova vault on the big stage of the Olympics but was unfortunate to miss out on a medal.

However, Karmakar has not been in competitive action since the 2019 World Cup in Baku.

It has been reported that a positive sample was collected on behalf of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) in an out-of-competition test on October 11, 2021. The ITA has further mentioned that the case has been resolved via a resolution agreement pursuant to article 10.8.2 of the FIG Anti-Doping Rules.

The banned substance that she tested positive for, higenamine is said to be found in a wide range of plant sources and herbs that are used for traditional medicine. According to the US Anti Doping Agency, “Research indicates that higenamine has mixed adrenergic receptor activity, meaning it may act as a general stimulant. It may be found in some pre-workout, energy, or weight-loss products.”

The news of her testing positive for a banned substance arrives 15 months after she tested positive because all doping test results are confidential until the federation makes the name public. The FIG had identified Karmakar as a suspended athlete last year. However, when enquired about it, Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) president Sudhir Mittal responded by stating that their federation hadn’t received any official communication from the FIG.

A PTI report also stated that  "other GFI officials went to the extent of saying that the "suspended" status could be due to other issues, like ethical or disciplinary, not related to doping violation."

What’s even more surprising is the fact that Karmakar maintains that she has no idea how the substance entered her body and what the source of consumption actually was.

"It has been distressful to not know how the substances entered by body, more so to be in a position where my ethics have been questioned. Never in my career has the thought of consuming a banned substance crossed my mind. Gymnastics is all I have, and I would never do anything which would bring myself or my country into disrepute," she added.