Manipur: Weightlifter Sanjita Chanu clears doping charge by IWF, demands compensation

Indian weightlifter Sanjita Chanu hails from Manipur, has cleared of the doping charge by International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

The 26-year-old weightlifter from Manipur, while demanding apology and compensation, said the IWF has robbed her of the chance to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

The IWF has dropped the doping charge against Chanu due to “non-conformities” in the handling of her sample but the Commonwealth Games gold-medallist has also demanded an apology and compensation for the “trauma” she has endured.

The federation made the decision based on the recommendation of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The 26-year-old, who claimed innocence since the beginning, was informed about the final verdict via an e-mail, signed by IWF’s legal counsel Lilla Sagi.

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Last month, Wada revealed that it had partially suspended the accreditation of a laboratory in Salt Lake City, the one that tested Chanu’s sample, for a month in 2019 due to “non-conformities” relating to its documents.

Expressing her happiness, Chanu said, “I am happy that I have cleared the charge. But, what about the chances I have lost? Who will take the responsibility of the mental trauma I have been living with?”

It may be mentioned that Sanjita Chanu had tested positive for anabolic steroid testosterone carried out by the United States Anti-Doping Agency prior to the World Championships in America in November 2017. The laboratory results of the tests conducted were handed to the international body on December 20^th.

Chanu, who won a gold in the women’s 53kg category at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, was then put under a provisional suspension on May 15^th, 2018 and her ‘B’ sample returned positive on September 11^th in the same year.

Her representatives then appeared before an IWF hearing panel on October 18^th, 2019 in Budapest, Hungary. On January 22^nd, 2019 her provisional suspension was revoked. Readers like you make Inside Northeast’s work possible.

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