Aishwarya Mishra's Asian Athletics Championships 2023 bronze in 400m set to be upgraded
Apr 09, 2024
New Delhi [India], April 9 : Indian athlete Aishwarya Mishra's bronze medal earned during the women's 400 m sprint event of the Asian Athletics Championships 2023 is set to be upgraded to silver after Uzbekistan's Farida Soliyeva, the silver medalist, failed a dope test.
As per Olympics.com, Farida tested positive for a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-prohibited substance, meldonium.
Farida's sample was collected during the championships, which were held in July last year. The substance in question is suspected to be a performance-enhancing drug and was added to WADA's list of banned substances back in 2016.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which deals with doping in athletics, has handed Farida a three-year ban in effect from September 13, 2023. Her competitive results from July 13, 2023, onwards have been erased from the books.
The 22-year-old Farida had secured the silver after clocking 52.95s in the women's 400 m race in Bangkok. Sri Lanka's Nadeesha Ramanayake took home the gold medal, with a timing of 52.61s.
Farida's disqualification means that not only Aishwarya's medal will be upgraded, but the Japanese Haruna Kuboyama (53.80s) will get the bronze.
Aishwarya also had successful outings in relay events in Bangkok last year. She was part of the Indian mixed 4x400m relay team consisting of Amoj Jacob, Rajesh Ramesh and Subha Venkatesan, which secured a gold medal with national-record-setting timings of 3:14.70. They also broke the championship record.
She also held the bronze medal in the women's 4x400m relay competition along with Rezoana Mallick Heena, Jyothika Sri Dandi and Subha Venkatesan after clocking 3:33.73.
In the competition, India bagged 27 medals, including six gold medals, finishing third behind Japan and China.
