KUALA LUMPUR: The success in winning two gold medals and one bronze by the national weightlifting squad at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia has been tainted by the fact that one of the athletes tested positive for a banned substance during a dope test carried out just before the Games.
Earlier this week on Tuesday, the local sports scene was rocked by speculation and news that a national athlete who won bronze at the second largest sporting event in the world had failed a dope test, and today, the Malaysian Anti-Doping Agency (ADAMAS) and the Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (MWF) confirmed it.
ADAMAS director, Datuk Dr. Ramlan Abdul Aziz said that his side can only comment further on the scandal after MEF have made an announcement on the matter regarding the national athlete who tested positive for the banned substance Stanozolol – which is a synthetic steroid derived from testosterone and has anabolic and androgenic properties.
Ramlan explained that ADAMAS have carried out their duties to the best of their abilities before the Commonwealth Games began and testing and screening was carried out in phases with weightlifting athletes undergoing tests from February 5 onwards.
However, ADAMAS were unable to test and screen all the weightlifting athletes, as three of them had unknown reasons for not undergoing the test and screening until they left to train and compete in Balikpapan, Indonesia.
“The last test we did was on March 23 involving seven women’s hockey players,” said Ramlan after his meeting with MWF acting secretary, Abu Hanapah Ismail earlier today (Thursday).
“On March 8, we received a request from the manager of the weightlifting squad, who enquired if the athletes who were not tested earlier, could be tested by ADAMAS out of competition.
“So we knew after due consideration that if anything out of the ordinary were to happen, any decision would come later. However, because this involved a high risk sport, and with the National Sports Council (NSC) involved and in the know, we agreed and proceeded to test and screen the athletes.
“Therefore because it was a special request to carry out testing and screening, we agreed to carry it out on March 28. Right after that the athlete left for competition and we received a positive test result on April 6, and coincidentally at the time, the athlete was competing at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
Ramlan also revealed that the said athlete has requested for the B sample to be tested and the result will only be know sometime next week the earliest, or by the middle of next month (May).
Among the weightlifting athletes who have tested positive for a banned substance before this are, Khairul Anuar Mohamad (2016 Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Sarawak), Constantine Clement (2016, while undergoing training in China) and Hafifi Mansor (tested positive while competing at last year’s Australian Open).