Indian men’s javelin thrower DP Manu’s hopes of making it to the Paris 2024 Olympics were dented on Friday, when he was found to have tested positive for an anabolic steroid, according to reports.
The Press Trust of India claimed that Manu’s positive test came in April when he was competing at the Indian Grand Prix.
Manu, 24, was expected to compete at the ongoing National Inter-State Championships in Panchkula, but the Athletics Federation of India did not allow him to participate, as per the directives of the National Anti Doping Agency.
“There was a phone call to the AFI office [from NADA] yesterday that [Manu] be stopped from competitions,” AFI president Adille Sumariwalla was quoted as saying by PTI.
“Otherwise there are no details. I think the athlete himself is finding out from NADA what is the exact thing.”
Manu, who is 15th in the World Athletics Road to Paris list was expected to qualify for the Olympics next month based on his ranking. With that, he would have joined defending champion Neeraj Chopra and Asian Games silver medallist Kishore Kumar Jena as the Indian contingent competing in the men’s javelin throw event in Paris.
Manu had finished runner-up behind Chopra at the Federation Cup in May, with a throw of 82.06m, later winning gold at the Taiwan Athletics Open on June 1 with an attempt of 81.58m.
The former national champion’s career best throw so far is 84.35m, which he registered in Chennai in June 2022.
