Race walker Rani Yadav fails dope test in Delhi

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian race walker Rani Yadav has tested positive for a banned steroid and provisionally suspended from the Commonwealth Games, the Games Federation (CGF) said on Wednesday.

(For Slideshow: Commonwealth Games Highlights, click here)

The 20-year-old, who finished sixth in the women's 20 kilometre race walk last Saturday, will have a hearing later on Wednesday.

"The CGF can now confirm that the A sample of Ms Rani Yadav... was found to contain 19-Norandrosterone, a prohibited Anabolic Agent under category S1 of the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) list of prohibited substances and methods," read a statement.

Norandrosterone is a metabolite of the banned muscle-building steroid nandrolone.

Yadav is the third athlete to fail a dope test at the Oct. 3-14 Games after Nigerians Osayemi Oludamola, who was stripped of the 100m gold medal, and 110m hurdler Samuel Okon.

"It's very unfortunate," Lalit Bhanot, secretary general of the local organising committee, told a news conference.

"We tried our level best. Not only the federations but also the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) tried with our out-of-competition tests.

"The government is very serious about these things. One can't be controlled if the person is trying to take some forbidden substance to enhance their performance."

More than 1,300 tests had been performed until the end Tuesday, Fennell said, and there had been three positive tests.

Oludamola lost the 100m title on Tuesday after her B sample confirmed a positive test for a banned stimulant.

Okon also tested positive for methylhexaneamine but waived his right to have his B Sample tested and was also disqualified.

Doping has been a recurring problem in India with weightlifting producing the highest number of offenders.

"We had taken 727 samples from the India Commonwealth Games probable team and some were even removed from the final team after testing positive," Dr Rahul Bhatnagar, the director general of India's National Anti-Doping Agency, told Reuters.

"We wanted to send out the message that we won't tolerate doping. If one has been caught, it will be a lesson to all the athletes."

(Additional reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; Editing by John O'Brien: To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)