Para-Athletics World Championships gold medallist Simran Sharma’s runner guide tests positive for doping

20-year-old Saifi guided Paralympic medallist sprinter Simran, who is visually impaired, to the women’s 100m T12 gold medal and women’s 200m T12 silver medal at the recently-concluded World Para Athletics Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

“Yes, Umar has been provisionally banned by NADA for doping. However, he was caught at an able-bodied competition and not at the Para World Championships,” Satyanarayana, Chairman of Para Athletics at Paralympic Committee of India, told The Indian Express.

The NADA list mentions that Saifi violated Article 2.1 and 2.2 of the anti-doping rule, which means the presence, use or attempted use of prohibited substances or methods by an athlete.

Simran’s husband and coach, Gajendra Sharma, claimed that they had no idea about the same. “This is news for us also. We don’t have any idea about this; he might have tested somewhere from the World Championships. He has been training with us for the past seven months, but I don’t have any idea about where he was tested,” Gajendra told this daily.

Incidentally, Simran and his guide runner were missing from the felicitation ceremony of World Championship medallists in the presence of the Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday. “The duo was missing due to the NADA provisional ban. PCI has been instructed clearly to keep away from the athletes or coaches who are involved in doping,” a source said.

Will the medals stand for Simran?

Saifi getting caught in the doping net means that Simran is at risk of losing her historic twin medals.

As per the International Paralympic Committee Anti-Doping Code, guide runners are officially classified as Athlete Support Persons. If the guide runner is found in violation of the anti-doping rules, the medals can be taken away.

“IPC is very strict with the rules, and the doping rules apply to both the athlete and the athlete’s support person (guide runner in this case). Both the athlete and the guide runner receive certificates and the medal, but it is counted as one,” explained Satyanarayana.

Earlier, Simran used to run with another guide, Abhay Singh, who was involved in the previous World Championships medal and the 2024 Paralympic medal. However, the duo separated after the Paris Paralympics, with Abhay joining the likes of Animesh Kujur, Amlan Borgohain, and Manikanta at the Reliance Youth Sports under James Hillier.

When asked if there will be any sanctions apart from the loss of a medal, Satyanarayana said, “We will have to wait and see for now. Even if Simran loses her medal from the World Championships, we hope that there are no further sanctions that can hamper her participation in the other global events.”