Gymnast Dipa Karmakar to return after serving doping ban

Set to compete in Asian Games trials next week.

IMAGE: Gymnast Dipa Karmakar was handed a 21-month ban by WADA for failing a dope test in 2021. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

Olympian Dipa Karmakar is set for her comeback after serving a 21-month ban for failing a dope test and will participate in the Asian Games gymnastics selection trials in Bhubaneswar on July 11 and 12, said her coach Bishweshwar Nandi on Monday.

Nandi will be accompanying her to the trials. As many as 40 gymnasts of different states are scheduled to join the trials for the Asian Games.

“Dipa Karmakar, who was out of action for the past 18 months after failing dope test conducted by World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), is set to join the Asian Games trials at Bhubaneswar. Her ban is scheduled to be completed on July 10,” Nandi, who helped the 29-year gymnast secure fourth place in Rio Olympics, told PTI.

Nandi said the world anti-doping body (WADA) initially banned Dipa for two years but later it was reduced on the ground that she had not taken any drug or narcotics.

“It is good that Dipa is returning to action after a long time. Although she is still having injuries, she wants to prove herself in the trials and make a remarkable comeback,” he said, adding she had already begun practice for the trials in her native state of Tripura.

Karmakar’s dope sample was collected out-of-competition by the International Testing Agency (ITA), an independent organisation that manages the anti-doping programme of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), on October 11, 2021.

Her 21-,month ban period will end on July 10 this year as it was counted from the day (October 11, 2021) the sample was collected. Her results have been disqualified from October 11, 2021 onwards.