Athlete-coach duo of Sanjana-Sandeep handed provisional suspension for doping offence

Eighteen-year-old Sanjana Singh, who won two gold medals in the recent SAAF Senior Athletics Championships in Ranchi, and her coach Sandeep Mann have been provisionally suspended for doping offences in a rare case of sanction on both the athlete and mentor.

Sanjana, who had won a gold each in the women’s 1500m and 5000m races in the SAAF event in October, tested positive for two steroids — methandienone and oxandrolone.

The athlete, who turns 19 on December 23, has been provisionally suspended for the doping offence, according to the latest update on the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) website.

The NADA also mentioned one athletics coach, Sandeep (without surname), who has been handed a provisional suspension for “Trafficking or Attempted Trafficking of Prohibited Substances”.

It is learnt that the coach in question is Sandeep under whom Sanjana trains in Rohtak, Haryana.

Middle-distance runner Himanshu Rathi has also been provisionally suspended after he tested positive for stimulant mephentermine.

Triple jumper Sheena Varkey has accepted a three-year suspension for a Ligandrol (SARM) violation under the ‘case resolution agreement’. The 33-year-old Kerala jumper had won silver at the Uttarakhand National Games this year.

Another athlete, Basanti Kumari, a distance runner who participated in the 2025 World University Games in a marathon, tested positive for 19-norandrosterone.

Weightlifter Sankar Logeswaran, who won gold in the recent Khelo India University Games, was also provisionally suspended after testing positive for steroid Drostanolone.

Published on Dec 03, 2025