New Delhi: The doping case of quarter-miler Sneha Kolleri, who received a three-year ban for testing positive for stanozolol, reveals surprising facts. The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) conducted the test during the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou last year (May 10).
The most notable is the National Dope Testing Laboratory’s (NDTL) failure to detect the same prohibited substance in her sample collected in Chandigarh just 10 days before the AIU test. When the AIU had the Paris lab re-test Sneha’s Chandigarh sample, it revealed the presence of stanozolol.
If NDTL had detected the substance in the April 30 sample, Sneha could not have made it to the Indian team for the World Athletics Relays, avoiding an international embarrassment. As things stand, all her results on and since April 30, 2025 (the date of collection of the Chandigarh sample during the National Open Relay), stand disqualified, as does the result of the Indian mixed relay team that she was part of in Guangzhou.
In fact, Sneha was tested three times by NADA, from March 24 to April 30, before the AIU collected her samples in Guangzhou as part of its ‘target testing’ and found them positive. AIU then arranged for the Chandigarh sample and another sample from Trivandrum (collected out-of-competition by NADA on March 31) to be “transferred to the Paris Laboratory for further analysis.”
“Analysis of the Guangzhou sample by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Paris, France revealed the presence of Stanozolol Metabolite 17-EpiStanozolol-1’N-glucuronide,” according to the AIU.
“On 1 August 2025, the Paris Laboratory reported that its further analysis of the Chandigarh sample (initially reported as negative by the New Delhi laboratory) had revealed the presence of the Stanozolol metabolites 16β-hydroxystanozolol-O-glucuronide and Stanozolol-1N-glucuronide,” said the AIU order published last week.
The Trivandrum sample did not show the presence of a prohibited substance.
People aware of the case said every WADA-accredited lab has certain “minimum detection levels” for substances as prescribed by WADA, which refers to the lab’s capability to detect even tiny traces. “In this case, NDTL tested the sample as per its analytical capability and it returned negative. The Paris lab has the ability to detect substances at a higher level of sensitivity and therefore returned a positive finding. It does not mean that there was anything lacking on the part of NDTL,” said an official aware of the development.
It is learnt that WADA sought a report from NDTL on the issue and was “satisfied” with the response.
The question remains, though, whether the case should spur NDTL to further enhance its capabilities with modern equipment, scaling up infrastructure and technical knowhow. This is especially true as India has topped the global rankings of doping offenders for the last three years, according to WADA’s latest 2025 report.
More cutting-edge technology is required to carry out highly sensitive analysis, as seen in WADA-accredited labs in Cologne or Paris. The fact remains that stanozolol is among the most commonly used anabolic steroids by Indian doping offenders.
Officials say upgradation is a “continuous process” and NDTL has been working on it. Setting up an Athlete Passport Management Unit at NDTL last year was part of these plans. “It is now among only 17 labs in the world equipped to monitor and manage athletes’ biological passports, which has strengthened the fight against doping,” said the official.
In a year featuring the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, the fight against doping will be crucial, and NDTL will play a key role.
