Ugly run: On keeping sports tidy

A year earlier, her story moved lots of. When Gomathi Marimuthu discussed her battle following the death of her father and coach in succession, the 800 m gold she won then at the Asian Champions in Doha appeared to have a lot of shimmer. All that changed when reports emerged a month later about the middle range runner from Tiruchirappalli testing positive for a banned substance two times, both at Doha and the Federation Cup in Patiala, an event prior to the Asian Champions. The latest decision from the International Disciplinary Tribunal which has penalized the 31- year-old with probably a career-ending four-year ban, will also remove her of the Asian gold. It must not come as a surprise as 4 of her urine samples had the presence of 19 Norandrosterone (19- NA), a metabolite of nandrolone, which is prohibited at all times. What remains odd is the two-month hold-up by the National Dope Testing Laboratory, which is now suspended by the World Anti-Doping Firm, and the National Anti-Doping Agency in bringing out the outcomes of Gomathi’s sample taken throughout the Federation Cup. Had it come previously, she would not have gone to Doha and it would have conserved the cou