Middle-distance runner Parvej Khan, hailed as India’s latest track sensation after his exploits in the NCAA circuit in the United States of America earlier this year, has been placed under provisional suspension by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
The 19-year-old tested positive for Erythropoietin (EPO) in samples collected on June 27 and 28 during the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula. He clocked 3:42.95 in winning the men’s 1500m final. He had a time of 3:45.93 in the heats a day earlier.
The NADA website has not yet listed Parvej Khan among those placed on provisional suspensions since the list has not been updated after July 1, but there is reliable information that he has been notified of the provisional suspension.
He caught the eye of the discerning when he broke a long-standing National record for boys u16 800m with a 1:54.78 effort in the National Junior Athletics Championships in Guntur in November 2019 (seen in the photo above with Bib No. 609).
In the senior ranks, he first came to the fore when he outsprinted Ajay Kumar Saroj to win the men’s 1500m in the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Warangal on September 16, 2021. The following year Parvej Khan was roped in the Indian Navy and won the metric mile in the Services Athletics Championships in Jalahalli, Bengaluru.
He made it to the Indian squad after he won top place in the National Games in Gandhinagar with a stunning 3:40.89 effort and followed it up with a victory in the National Open in Bengaluru. However, after he suffered an injury during the camp in Colorado Springs, he was awarded a scholarship by the University of Florida and admitted to a Sports Management course.
During the NCAA indoor season, he stormed into limelight by becoming the first Indian to clock a sub-4-minute mile. He attained the feat when he completed the eight laps of the 200m track in the Razoback Invitational in Arkansas on January 28. He ran three more sub-4-minute miles with a best of 3:55.41 in the Boston University Track and Tennis Centre, Boston, on February 16.
Parvej Khan clocked a personal best time of 3:36.21 in the 1500m at the Lincoln HS, Portland, in the Portland Track Festival where he finished eighth on June 9. It was the second fastest time by an Indian behind Jinson Johnson’s 3:35.24 clocked in Berlin in September 2019. It sparked much hope among fans that he would set the track ablaze.
NCAA is not a WADA Code signatory and conducts its own anti-doping programme along with its conferences and member schools. It tests for steroids, peptide hormones and masking agents year-round and for stimulants and recreational drugs during championships. It deters student-athletes from doping and impacts the eligibility of student-athletes who use banned substances.
