The national female athlete Achala Dias has tested positive for taking a banned substance during the national selection trials held recently at Diyagama.
The hundred meter runner was placed second in the race was found to be positive for taking Anabolic Steroid which is a banned drug by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Speaking to Ceylon Today, Professor Arjuna De Silva, and the Chairman of Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency stated that, she had been found positive for a drug that has been termed as offensive for athletes.
“We have officially informed her regarding the result and we will call her for the inquiry in the next few days,” said De Silva.
Achala Dias (35) has now been temporally suspended from all activities in connection with athletics. According to Professor De Silva, she can go for the B sample if she wants.
She represented Sri Lanka at the Asian Athletic Championship in 2009 and South Asian Games in 2010.
Anabolic Steroid is the familiar name for synthetic variants of the male sex hormone testosterone. The proper term for these compounds is anabolic-androgenic steroids (abbreviated AAS ) – ‘anabolic’ referring to muscle-building and ‘androgenic’ referring to increased male sexual characteristics.
Some athletes, bodybuilders, and others abuse these drugs in an attempt to enhance performance and improve their physical appearance.
