Top Indian race walker Bhawna Jat handed 16-month ban for 'whereabouts failure' by NADA panel

Aug. 23, 2024, 7:05 a.m.

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Top Indian race walker Bhawna Jat has been suspended for 16 months by the Anti-Doping Disciplinary (ADDP) Panel of the NADA for whereabouts failures committed in August of last year.

Bhawna, a former national record holder in the women's 20km race walk, was provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency in August of last year. She was recalled from Budapest, where she had arrived to participate in the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

The 16-month ban period, however, will commence on August 10, 2023, the date of her provisional suspension. Consequently, her ban will conclude on December 10 of this year.

The ADDP's decision to impose the suspension under Article 2.4 of the NADA Rules was issued on July 10. However, it was formally published on the website of the national anti-doping watchdog only on Thursday.

According to Article 2.4, “Any combination of three (3) missed tests and/or filing failures, as outlined in the International Standard for Results Management, within a twelve (12) month period by an Athlete in a Registered Testing Pool” constitutes ‘Whereabouts Failures’ by an athlete.

The 28-year-old Bhawna had also missed two drug tests in May and June 2023 and received a warning for a filing failure in late 2022.

Jat attributed her failure to meet NADA's whereabouts requirements to technical issues with the mobile application used to submit the form, followed by the loss of her phone.

She had told PTI that her whereabouts failure was not intentional.

“I am unsure how this occurred. I was away from home. I couldn't receive the OTP on the (mobile) application, and later, I lost my phone. Consequently, I couldn't update my location details,” she stated.

Bhawna, a participant in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, achieved a gold medal in the 20km race-walk at the National Inter-State Championships in June of the previous year.

There are two types of whereabouts failures – filing failures and missed tests.

Under the World Athletics Anti-Doping (WADA) rules, any combination of whereabouts failures – filing failure and/or missed test – within a period of 12 months constitute an anti-doping rule violation, for which the applicable sanction is two years ineligibility, subject to reduction to a minimum of one year depending on the degree of fault of the athlete.

Athletes enrolled in the Registered Testing Pool (RTP) are required to provide their complete overnight accommodation address, the names and full addresses of all training, work, or other regularly scheduled activity locations, as well as the typical timeframes for each activity.

RTP athletes must also designate a specific 60-minute window within each day of the quarter, indicating a location where they will be available for testing. Failure to adhere to these whereabouts and testing obligations will result in a whereabouts violation.