Manju tested positive, may lose gold
Sri Lanka suffered a major humiliation as Commonwealth Games bantam weight boxing champion, Manju Wanniarachchi has been tested positive for banned steroid, nandrolone and is on the verge of losing the country’s first gold medal in 72 years.
According to highly placed sources his ‘A’ sample contained 19-Norandrosterone, a prohibited anabolic under category S1 from the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) list of prohibited substances. Nandrolone is broken down into 19-Norandrosterone, which can be detected in urine.
Commonwealth Games 2010 organizers sent the report containing the A sample report to the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOC) officials last week, which has been notified to the boxer.
Source added the boxer had admitted to injecting the said drug six months back from a medical practitioner in Kurunegala.
Wanniarachchi can now request for a B sample test and if the outcome remains unchanged, he would be stripped off his gold medal and could face up to a two- year ban from all competition.
Wanniarachchi, 30, who hails from Kandy produced ‘stunning’ performance right through the tournament before being adjudged the winner after scores levelled on 7 all in the title bout against the Welshman Sean McGoldrick. But after barely two weeks comes the shocking news, that he has been tested positive.
The win was considered a great achievement for the island nation where bureaucratic bungling has often ruined most sports and people believed that concerted efforts by the boxing officials have finally paid off dividends. His entry to the final round erupted island-wide celebration as folks from all walks of life gathered in front of their television sets to witness history being made. Soon after his win President Mahinda Rajapaksa congratulated the man who wept profusely when the judges pronounced he was the winner.
His manager Dian Gomes told AFP soon after the win “It’s a great victory for us after 72 years. It means so much for boxing in Sri Lanka. This is one of the greatest victories of all time. It’s as good as winning the cricket World Cup.”
The country’s last gold was won by Ansdale “Barney” Henricus in Sydney in 1938.
Sources also said NOC has informed President Mahinda Rajapaksa of the positive drug test which could be the biggest doping scandal in Sri Lanka’s sporting history.
Repeated attempts to contact boxing officials to clarify the matter were in vain as either the phones were switched off or not answering.
Last four years saw Sri Lanka reporting two instances of positive drug tests when sprinters Jani Chathurangani and DPP Priyadarshani were caught for doping and subsequently banned.
Nandrolone, synthesized from male hormone testosterone, is much abused in sport. It is believed to increase muscle strength and reduce fatigue. Among the side effects, it can cause liver damage and can lead to heart attack. Cricketer Shoaib Akhtar, 100m Olympic champion Linford Christie, Olympic legend Marlene Otty, France’s FIFA World Cup winner Christophe Duggary and tennis player Petr Korda are among the high-profile athletes who have been tested positive for this drug.
Courtesy: Lakbima News
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Or Shit…….
What a fool:-)
Doesn’t he know that anabolic steroid use in sports is banned? It amounts to cheating. This man has brought shame on our country. It is a set-back on our efforts to hold the Commonwealth Games in SL in 2012, and to train our young athletes and sportsmen and women for it specifically to win a haul of medals. I blame equally his coach and management team behind him for failing to advise him against it and failing to ensure he did not cheat.
This is typical of the southern community in Sri Lanka. Wherever they could, they will screw the system for personal benefit.
When this guy’s bogus gold medal was reported, he was labelled a hero and I warned him that he may be well on his way to a 12 X 8 cell where all southern heroes end up.
Now he is a zero and a confirmed traitor.
Mr.D.Chelvan southern community dosen’t have any thing to do with it.we all know what has happened in north
when LTTE was there.this is a well plan under ground
work by some persons who want to distort SRI LANKA image.
MR.Dian Gomes president of sri lanka boxing association will never allow this type of thing’s to
happen
Mr.Nicholas Dias… i feel so sorry about you man.. do you know anything about sports… next CW games supposed to be held in 2014 Scotland… SL will compete with Australia to hold 2018 CW games… Don’t try to show the typical southern attitude as Mr.Demala said… Who ever you are Mr.Chelvan you had observed well the southern mindset…
I agree that SL is competing with Australia to hold CW games in 2018. It was a typing error on my part when I said 2012. This does not mean I do not know about sports. I do not know how Waruna jumped to that conclusion. As regards DC he is a diaspora Tamil who is deluded that VP is alive and kicking, perhaps in hell, and that he will suddenly rise up from hell with an horde of devils to vanquish SL Forces. Fat hope!
All you people are fools there are no other people other than sri lankans living in this country if u fell other wise its the core problem.
There are lot reasons behind this article which has not covered. All will come to light when right time has come.
The man who calls himself ‘People’ and dare not reveal his name unlike the others, calls other writers ‘fools’. This is his self-projection. The poor fool is incapable of talking to the point. His one-liner has nothing to do with the topic of this article, which is about Manju.
Ajith, instead of being mysterious about so-called ‘lots of reasons behind this article…’ why don’t you enlighten the rest of us? I don’t think the truth will ever come out. Manju is perhaps the tip of the iceberg of some sports men and women in SL cheating by injecting performance-enhancing drugs, which are banned substances in sports, through some quack who calls himself a ‘doctor’ when he has only studied a homeopathy course in India.I think the truth is the management and team coaches are not entirely in the dark about this vile practice. If proven guilty Manju has brought disgrace to our country and to his parents, and so has the team managers and coaches if proven guilty.