Junior Commonwealth champion weightlifter Sairaj fails dope test after alleging conspiracy by coach

New Delhi, April 7: Commonwealth Championships (junior) gold medal-winning weightlifter Sairaj Pardeshi has been provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for a failed dope test, months after alleging a conspiracy to sabotage his career by a coach.
He has tested positive for “Metanolone”, a banned anabolic steroid that aids muscle building.
The 18-year-old from Maharashtra, who won a gold in the men’s 88kg junior category at the Commonwealth Championships last year, has alleged conspiracy behind the outcome.
He had written to the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) and the Sports Authority of India in October, claiming that a coach present at the national camp held a personal vendetta against him.
In an email dated October 24, 2025, Sairaj alleged that the coach, whose identity has been withheld by the weightlifter, instigated others to tamper with his food and water.
“The coach instigated my friends and some competitors to mix some drugs in my food or water bottle,” Sairaj wrote in the e-mail.
He further claimed that the coach had earlier threatened to “ruin” his career as well.
“After my Commonwealth Championships performance, I started gaining recognition. The coach wanted credit for my success despite not training me.
“Then some people heard the coach say ‘Sairaj is getting ahead, we need to bring him down somehow, mix something in his food’. This was in October,” he alleged.
Sairaj, who is part of NADA’s Registered Testing Pool, said he reported the matter immediately. A dope test conducted on October 26, two days after his complaint, returned negative.
However, in an out-of-competition test in December, Sairaj was found positive for “Metanolone” leading to a provisional ban. As a result, he wasn’t able to take part in the National Championships in February.
“I have undergone several dope tests and never failed before this. I was in Patiala from October to December and did not travel anywhere,” Sairaj said.
The Indian Weightlifting Federation has also conducted an inquiry, the findings of which are yet to be revealed.
“We have appealed that the athlete be allowed to compete at events which he is not allowed in provisional suspension,” Sairaj’s lawyer Munish Nagar said.
Hailing from Manmad in Maharashtra, Sairaj has been a consistent performer on the junior circuit.
At the Commonwealth Championship in Ahmedabad, he lifted a total of 348kg to clinch gold — a performance that would also have secured him the top spot in the senior category.
He had also won a bronze medal at the 2024 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Doha.
Sairaj was training in Patiala for two years after spending five years at the National Centre of Excellence in Chhtarpati Sambhajinagar. (PTI)