Weightlifter Sanjita Chanu handed four-year ban for failing dope test

The 29-year-old is likely to be stripped of her silver medal from the National Games.

Two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sanjita Chanu has been handed a four-year ban by NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) after testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid Drostanolone Metabolite (which also features in the prohibited list of World Anti-Doping Agency). The test was conducted during the 2022 National Games (September-October) in Gujarat.

Sanjita Chanu won the silver medal (49kg category) at the Weightlifting National Games and will be stripped of the medal. Mirabai Chanu claimed the gold medal in the same weight category. Sanjita has a chance to appeal and if the ban continues to hold then Sneha Soren from Odisha will get her medal upgraded from bronze to silver.

The 28-year-old was provisionally suspended by the IWF (International Weightlifting Federation) after testing positive for testosterone on 30 May 2018. In 2020 she was cleared after the charge was dropped. She has participated in three different weight categories (48kg, 49kg, and 53kg) throughout her career.

In the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Sanjita Chanu lifted 77 kg (in the snatch segment thereby equalling Nwaokolo's Commonwealth Games record) in the 48kg weight category. Chanu took an unassailable lead with a 96 kg lift in the clean and jerk event to secure the gold medal with a total weight of 173 kg.

She went on to win her second successive gold medal - this time in a higher weight category (53kg) at the Gold Coast (2018 Commonwealth Games). En route to her gold medal, Sanjita bettered her performance from the 2014 Commonwealth Games and broke the Games record for the snatch category with a lift of 84 kg. The Manipuri lifted a weight of 108 kg in the clean and jerk segment.

Notable Performances of Sanjita Chanu

Asian Championships - Bronze medal (2011)

Commonwealth Games -  Gold medal (2014 and 2018)

Commonwealth Championships - Gold Medal (2012, 2015, and 2017)