Twinkle Chaudhary #

Introduction #

Twinkle Chaudhary is an Indian middle-distance runner from Punjab who competes over 800 metres and won multiple medals at India’s National Games, including a gold in the women’s 4x400m relay. On March 9, 2026, a disciplinary tribunal of the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced that it had imposed a four-year period of ineligibility on her after she tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid methyltestosterone, ruling her ineligible through June 2029. She was 30 years old at the time of the decision.

Background Information #

Chaudhary won multiple medals at the National Games in Uttarakhand, including a gold in the women’s 4x400m relay, and a Sportstar file photograph from the 36th National Games in Gandhinagar records a silver in the women’s 800m there. Internationally, she finished fourth in the women’s 800m at the 26th Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea. Her rapid improvement drew notice: per Athletics Illustrated, she ran her 800m best of 2:00.71 in April 2025, down from a previous best of 2:02.98 set in 2022 and seasonal bests that mostly ranged from 2:03.67 to 2:10.57 over the prior four years — a trajectory the outlet described as a “red-flag performance.”

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Adjudicated. The four-year ban is an adjudicated anti-doping rule violation decided by an Athletics Integrity Unit disciplinary tribunal, not a criminal matter. Chaudhary denied the violation, arguing the sample may not have been hers or may have been tampered with or contaminated; the tribunal ruled she failed to discharge her burden of proof. Her side is included below as reported.

Chaudhary’s urine sample was collected on May 30, 2025, during the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi and analysed by the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory in Seoul; it tested positive for Methyltestosterone, a banned anabolic steroid. As Athletics Illustrated noted, “Any amount of the steroid methyltestosterone found in a sample is illegal.” An AIU Notice of Allegation followed on June 24, 2025, with her provisional suspension running from that date. In its judgement, the tribunal stated: “A period of ineligibility of four years is imposed upon the Athlete, commencing on the date of this decision. The period of Provisional Suspension imposed on the Athlete from 24 June 2025 until the date of this decision is credited against the total period of Ineligibility. The period of Ineligibility will therefore end on 23 June 2029.” As a consequence of the violation, her results from the period in question were disqualified.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

Chaudhary contested the case from the outset. Per Athletics Illustrated, her initial response was one of denial, and she claimed her urine sample must have been tampered with; she also argued that she was tested during the heats, which she considered unusual, and that none of her competitors were tested. In her September 2, 2025 explanation to the AIU, she denied “committing the asserted ADRVs (Anti-doping Rule Violations) on the basis that the Sample may not have belonged to her or that it may have been tampered with or contaminated during collection,” according to the tribunal. The tribunal found that “The Athlete was unable to explain the presence of Methyltestosterone and its metabolites,” and that tests she ran on her supplements “did not reveal the presence of Methyltestosterone.” Her case was that “no evidence had been presented of deliberate ingestion,” and she wished “to subject the Sample to DNA testing in order to satisfy herself as to its integrity and provenance,” but “The AIU refused.” The tribunal dismissed the DNA request, ruling it did “not consider that the Athlete has discharged the burden” of showing the doping was not intentional, and was “accordingly obliged to impose a four year suspension.” The AIU, for its part, argued that due to her rapid performance improvement, she was targeted for testing.

Athletics Illustrated used the case to argue that athletes from poorer countries cannot afford full defenses: Chaudhary “could not afford the B sample to be tested, nor a DNA test,” and, the outlet wrote, “The burden of proof remains with the athlete and is financially out of reach in some cases.” The same article observed that “India has the most athletes who have been suspended due to doping-related offences,” while Kenya leads specifically in athletics.

Current Status #

Chaudhary is serving her four-year ban, which, with credit for the provisional suspension imposed on June 24, 2025, runs until June 23, 2029. The tribunal did absolve her of one charge: that she breached her suspension’s terms by participating in the Khelo India University Games. She testified she traveled to the event to meet college friends, not to compete, saying “she is 30 years old, and this was an under-25 competition” and that she did not know who entered her or why; the tribunal stated, “We accept her evidence on this, and do not find this element of AIU’s case proved.” No appeal has been reported in the coverage.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The ban froze Chaudhary’s career at its peak, in the season she had run her fastest 800m and won National Games relay gold, sidelining her from national and international competition until mid-2029, when she will be in her early thirties. The disqualified results strip her fourth-place finish at the Asian Athletics Championships from the record. Her denial and contamination claims remain unproven rather than disproven — the tribunal’s ruling turned on her failure to discharge the burden of proof, a point Athletics Illustrated framed as a structural disadvantage for athletes without the money to test B samples or argue their cases fully.