Dhing Express Hima Das has been included by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) in its 'Registered Testing Poll' or RTP, which indicates that the sprinter will be subjected to more frequent 'out-of-competition' testing during her training and off-season time, apart from the regular 'in-competition' testing during the meets.
The sprint sensation from Assam has emerged as one of the country's brightest medal prospects at the international athletic meets, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Her astonishing success this year included a historic gold (400m) at the World U-20 championships in Tampere and multiple medals at the Asian Games and has prompted the anti-doping watchdog to monitor her future performances and keep a greater vigil on her.
According to NADA, it's a normal practice for the anti-doping watchdog to include top athletes in RTP and categorise them as 'high, medium and low risk' depending on parameters like power, endurance and chances of an athlete's medal-winning prospects. Mostly, those who participate in power games like athletics, wrestling and boxing, among others, are put in 'high risk' of the RTP; and hence Arjuna awardee Hima too has been put in the 'high risk' category, which only means that her samples would be collected more often and subjected to advanced scientific testing at NADA's laboratory.
It has been done to protect Hima from the danger of any possible use of performance-enhancing drugs given her profile as the rising star of Indian athletics. "NADA wants to ensure that she remains clean, without getting into the danger of doping. NADA wants to clarify that in no way is it casting aspersions on her previous medal-winning performances," said a NADA official.
To avoid further confusion regarding the matter, NADA also went on to explain that there has been an RTP for every international sports federation who prepare it accordingly while the anti-doping agency does it separately to avoid duplication of names.
