Sathya Suresh,a member of Indias 4x100m relay team was in Thanjavur,Tamil Nadu,when he got to hear that he had tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone. After being part of the bronze-medal winning relay team at the Commonwealth Games and just missing out on a bronze in the Asian Games,Suresh was enjoying a short break with his family over the weekend. I just heard that one of my samples have returned a positive test. I really dont know how this happened or what caused it. Id been training really hard for the CWG and the Asian Games. I really hope it is some mistake. This is very unpleasant news. I want to consult my coach first before deciding what to do, Suresh said when contacted on Saturday. Suresh,who also finished sixth in the 200m,said that he would take a call in a day or two whether or not to appeal for the B sample test. National Anti-Doping Agency director general Rahul Bhatnagar said that Sureshs positive test results were obtained on November 23 and it was immediately informed to the officials in Guangzhou. However,Suresh was allowed to run in the 200m final two days later and the 4x100 relay final on November 26. If the Indian team had won a medal or Suresh had bagged an individual medal then he would have had to appear for a mandatory dope test and could have possibly taken the gloss off the Indian squads stupendous performance at the Games. The sample was collected by Athletics Federation of India officials on November 14 and it was sent to the NADA lab on November 15. The result was known on November 23. We informed the AFI the next day. Suresh has been provisionally suspended, Bhatnagar said,adding that he had no clue why the athlete was not withdrawn from competition. Bhatnagar confirmed that Suresh had not yet applied for B sample test and only after he does that a date for a hearing before a NADA panel would be fixed.
