400m runner Priyanka Panwar handed 8-year ban: Sources

New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS) Priyanka Panwar, a 2014 Asian Games women's relay gold medallist, has been slapped an eight-year ban for failing a dope test for the second time, sources close to the development here said on Monday.

Panwar had tested positive for the stimulant mephentermine during the Inter-State Athletics Championships held at Hyderabad from June 28 to July 2, last year. She was under provisional suspension since then.

Panwar was selected for the Rio-bound 4x400m relay team, but was later dropped. She was replaced by Ashwini Akkunji.

National Anti Doping Agency's (NADA) disciplinary panel has handed out the verdict on the 29-year-old Uttar Pradesh athlete, said the sources who wished to remain unidentified.

The NADA code stipulates that athletes caught for a second anti-doping rule violation get a sanction ranging from eight years to a maximum life-time ban.

The athlete's national and international medals stand forfeited with immediate effect.

Panwar had failed a dope test in 2011 for an anabolic steroid. She was among six top women quarter-milers who had failed dope tests. All the six were banned for two years.

After she returned from the two-year ban in 2013, she was selected for the national camp, and included in the Incheon Asian Games relay squad.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)