New Delhi, March 20 Indian quarter-miler Sneha Kolleri, who was dropped from the Asian Championships contingent last year due to a failed doping test, was handed a three-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Friday, which rejected her claim that a contaminated supplement led to the adverse result.
In fact, an assessment of a previously collected sample in Chandigarh, which had returned negative in tests conducted in Delhi, revealed that it was actually positive for the banned anabolic steroid Stanozolol, which led to another anti-doping charge on Sneha while she was still under provisional suspension.
The 26-year-old from Kochi had denied any wrongdoing during her suspension. She was tested in competition on May 10 in Guangzhou, China, after a series of negative outcomes in tests conducted in India, and returned positive for Stanozolol.
"Analysis of the Guangzhou sample by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Paris, France, revealed the presence of Stanozolol Metabolite 17-EpiStanozolol-1’Nglucuronide," the AIU said in its verdict.
Stanozolol is a prohibited substance at all times. The AIU said that Sneha, who was a part of the women's 4x400m national team and had won the 200m gold at last year's Indian Grand Prix 2, did not have a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).
"...On June 5, 2025, the Athlete provided her response to the Notice of Allegation and made an application to lift the Provisional Suspension. Her application to lift the Provisional Suspension was made on the basis that she was able to demonstrate that the violation was likely to have involved a Contaminated Product," the AIU said.
"Specifically, the Athlete referred to a supplement she had been taking called 'Muscletech Nitrotech 100 per cent Whey Gold Protein (Double Chocolate flavour), and alleged that the Product had been identified in an advisory circular issued by NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) via WhatsApp to Athletes as a supplement known to have been contaminated with Prohibited Substances," it added.
She also said that after the notification of the positive test, she had submitted a sample of the product to a laboratory in India for analysis.
"The Athlete alleged that the analysis report confirmed the presence of Stanozolol in the Product," the AIU said.
The AIU then sought the opinion of an independent scientific expert, Professor Martial Saugy, as to whether the presence of Stanozolol in the supplement could be confirmed.
"Professor Saugy confirmed that the chromatograms from the testing of the Product indicated that no Stanozolol had been detected in the Product," it said.
"No Stanozolol was detected in the sealed container of Muscletech Nitrotech 100 per cent Whey Gold Protein (Double Chocolate flavour) that had been sourced by the AIU."
The AIU confronted Sneha with the information that contradicted her explanation.
"On February 17, 2026, the AIU issued a Decision rejecting the Athlete's application to lift her Provisional Suspension on the basis that the findings from the AIU investigation contradicted her claim that the violations were likely to have involved a Contaminated Product.
"The AIU remained satisfied in the circumstances that the Athlete had committed Anti-Doping Rule Violations...," it said.
Sneha admitted the violation on March 3, which led to the AIU reducing her ban from the mandated four years to three, in recognition of an early admission of guilt.