Asian Games gold medallist Priyanka Panwar banned for 8 years: Source

New Delhi: Priyanka Panwar, who brought pride to the nation by winning 2014 Asian Games women's relay gold medal, has been banned for eight years for failing a dope test for the second time, divulged a source close to the development here on Monday.

Panwar had tested positive for the stimulant mephentermine during the Inter-State Athletics Championships held at Hyderabad from June 28 to July 2, last year. She was under provisional suspension since then.

Panwar was selected for the Rio-bound 4x400m relay team, but was later dropped. She was replaced by Ashwini Akkunji.

National Anti Doping Agency's (NADA) disciplinary panel has handed out the verdict on the 29-year-old Uttar Pradesh athlete, said the sources who wished to remain unidentified.

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The NADA code stipulates that athletes caught for a second anti-doping rule violation get a sanction ranging from eight years to a maximum life-time ban.

The athlete's national and international medals stand forfeited with immediate effect.

Panwar had failed a dope test in 2011 for an anabolic steroid. She was among six top women quarter-milers who had failed dope tests. All the six were banned for two years.

After she returned from the two-year ban in 2013, she was selected for the national camp, and included in the Incheon Asian Games relay squad.