Runner Quach Thi Lan and four other Vietnamese athletes found guilty of doping at the 31st SEA Games had all their results revoked and were banned from competing for 16 to 18 months.
The penalty was sent to the Vietnam Olympic Committee and related athletes today, June 27. Accordingly, Quach Thi Lan was stripped of her 400m hurdles gold medal, 4x400m relay gold medal and women's 400m bronze medal, along with an 18-month competition ban from May 17, 2022 to November 17, 2023.
Also banned from competition for 18 months are Khuat Phuong Anh (women's 800m gold medal and 1,500m silver medal) and Hoang Thi Ngoc (women's 4x400m gold medal). Vu Thi Ngoc Ha (women's long jump gold medal and triple jump silver medal) and Le Ngoc Phuc (men's 400m silver medal and 4x400m relay silver medal) are also banned from competition for 16 months.
Quach Thi Lan overcomes the final hurdle before winning the women's 400m hurdles at My Dinh Stadium, Hanoi on the afternoon of May 17, 2022. Photo: Duc Dong
The disciplinary decision will be announced on the official website of the Vietnam Center for Anti-Doping and Sports Medicine. This penalty is lighter than the athletes initially thought.
Among the above athletes, Lan is a familiar face of Vietnamese athletics in regional and international competitions for nearly 10 years in the two events of 400m and 400m hurdles. The 27-year-old runner won the gold medal at the 2018 ASIAD and was twice the Asian champion in these two individual events, but has always been unlucky at the SEA Games.
In four times participating in regional sports events since 2013, her best achievement was the individual silver medal in the 400m and 400m hurdles in Myanmar 2013, and the 400m in Singapore 2015. Injury was the biggest obstacle that prevented Lan from reaching glory at the SEA Games, despite always achieving very good results during the preparation process.
At the home tournament last year, Lan won the individual gold medal, when she surpassed her senior Nguyen Thi Huyen in the women's 400m hurdles final.
Responding to VnExpress earlier, Quach Thi Lan said that if she is banned for two to three years, she can still practice again and compete at the highest level.
Based on the schedule, these athletes will miss the 18th Asian Games in September in China. However, they can return in time for the 2023 Asian Indoor Games in Thailand, held from November 17 to November 26.
Doping samples from athletes at the 31st SEA Games were tested a few months after the Games. In September and October 2022, five Vietnamese track and field athletes were found to have sample A testing positive for banned substances. In November, their sample B also tested positive. At that time, the identities of these five athletes had not been announced. In a previous report sent to the General Department of Sports and Physical Training, all of them affirmed that they did not intentionally use banned substances, but may have accidentally used inappropriate drugs or food.
In addition to the Vietnamese cases, two athletes from Thailand, two from Myanmar and one from Indonesia were found positive for doping at the 31st SEA Games.
Hieu Luong
Source link
Comment (0)