COLOMBO: Sri Lankan boxer Manju Wanniarachchi failed the second doping test for a banned steroid after winning gold at last month's Commonwealth Games, the boxing governing body on the island said on Sunday. The Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka said the "B" sample of 30-year-old Wanniarachchi's urine tested positive for nandrolone, a performance enhancing substance, but the authorities in Colombo will appeal.
"We are going to mount a legal challenge because we are not satisfied with the custody of the B sample and the documentation regarding who came into contact with it all this time," boxing chief Rohan Abeywardena said.
He said the second test was carried out Friday in New Delhi after the first showed positive.
Earlier this month, a Sri Lankan delegation returned from New Delhi without facing the "B" sample test after insisting that the paperwork was not in order. It was re-scheduled for last week.
Sri Lanka's National Olympic Committee has taken Wanniarachchchi's medal pending the completion of inquiries. The boxer risks a two-year ban.
Sri Lankan authorities maintain that Wanniarachchi may have unknowingly taken the banned steroid when he consulted a physician several months ago.
Wanniarachchi beat Welshman Sean McGoldrick in the bantamweight 56kg category to clinch gold.
Sri Lanka also won one silver and one bronze medal in boxing and weightlifting during the October 3-14 Games.
Two Sri Lankan athletes tested positive for nandrolone in 1998 and 2007 but on both occasions they were cleared because of alleged flaws in the inquiries against them.
AFP
