NADA suspends Indian racewalker Bhawna Jat for 16 months for whereabouts failure

Indian racewalker Bhawna Jat has received a 16-month suspension by the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (ADDP) of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) following a series of whereabouts failures.

This ruling came after Bhawna, a former national record holder in the women’s 20km race walk, committed the offense in August last year, prompting a provisional suspension. Consequently, she was recalled from Budapest, where she had traveled to compete in the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

The ban period officially began on August 10, 2023, the date of her provisional suspension. Bhawna’s suspension will therefore conclude on December 10, 2024. The ADDP's decision, which falls under Article 2.4 of the NADA Rules, was issued on July 10 but was only recently made public on NADA’s website.

According to Article 2.4, any combination of three missed tests and/or filing failures within 12 months constitutes a 'Whereabouts Failure'. The 28-year-old athlete missed two dope tests in May and June 2023 and had previously been warned for a filing failure in late 2022.

In response to the situation, Bhawna reasoned her inability to meet NADA’s whereabouts conditions due to technical glitches with the mobile application she used to update her location, coupled with the loss of her phone. Bhawna insisted that the failure was not intentional.

"I don’t know how this happened. I was not able to receive the OTP on the application and later I lost my phone as well. This is the reason I wasn’t able to update my whereabouts," she stated to PTI.

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A glance at Bhawna Jat’s career

Bhawna Jat, hailing from Rajasthan, made her mark in the Indian athletics scene through sheer determination and talent. She represented India at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, where she competed in the women's 20km race walk and finished 32nd with a time of 1:37:38.

Her journey in athletics began with a series of medals at zonal and national junior-level competitions between 2014 and 2015. This success paved the way for her employment with the Indian Railways as a ticket collector in Howrah, West Bengal, in 2016.

Bhawna Jat's career-defining moment came in February 2020 at the National Open Championships. Bhawna shattered the national record in the 20km race walk with an impressive time of 1:29:54, securing her qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

This marked a dramatic improvement from her previous best, showcasing her relentless dedication to the sport. Furthermore, she competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, achieving a personal best in the 10,000-meter race walk and finishing eighth.