Dope-tainted athlete in TOPS development list, but no place for Asian Games gold medallist Swapna Barman

BENGALURU: The latest list of 258 sportspersons in the

Target Olympic Podium Scheme

(

TOPS

) Development Group has no place for top performers such as Asian Games gold medallist heptathlete Swapna Barman but includes an athlete who served a doping ban.


"It is a big surprise that Swapna, who has been one of the country's top performers over the last three years, is not in the list. Having won the Asian Games gold and silver at the 2019 Asian Championships in Doha, she is surely in contention to qualify for the Paris Games," a top coach told TOI.

Swapna was the toast of the nation at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games after she became the first Indian to win a gold in

heptathlon

.

"In combined events, athletes get to their peak form late as they have to master each of the events. In Swapna's case she has already proved herself at the Asian level and deserves all the support to continue her fine show," the coach said.

Though disappointed, Swapna said she would continue to work hard. "I don't want to think negatively about this. I will try my best to excel at the international level," the 23-year-old told TOI from her home in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal.

ALSO READ: 258 promising athletes TOPS Development Group

Also missing from the list of athletes expected to do well at the 2024 and 2028 Olympics is Shaili Singh, the U-16 national record holder in long jump. The 15-year-old talent trains at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru under coach Robert Bobby George.

Meanwhile, the list includes javelin-thrower

Rohit Yadav

who was caught for doping by the National Anti-Doping Agency in 2017 after winning the silver medal in Asian Youth

Athletics

Championship.

Yadav, who was to serve a four-year ban, escaped with a reduced sentence as the NADA panel, which heard his case on August 28, 2017, handed him a one-year ban from May 22, 2017, after the athlete tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid.

Though the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) sources denied that it had any role in drawing up the list, TOPS sources confirmed that the list was prepared in consultation with AFI.

TOPS Development Group

(Athletics)
Men: Shivpal Singh, Rohit Yadav, Amoj Jacob, Jabir MP, Santosh Kumar Tamilarasan, Ajay Kumar Saroj, Sahil Silwal
Women: Kaveri Patil, Daneshwari AT, Kiran, Jisna Mathew, Venkatesan Subha, Vismaya VK, Anjali Devi, Lili Das, Bhawna Jat