A 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medallist and reigning national champion weightlifter has tested positive for human Growth Hormone (hGH).

Pardeep Singh, who represents Railways on the domestic circuit, has been handed a provisional four-year suspension after his blood sample tested positive for hGH, which is prohibited in and out of competition by the World Anti- Doping Agency.

According to the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) director general Navin Agarwal, this is the first instance of an Indian athlete testing positive for hGH. Singh was informed about the failed test in March, but the result was made public only on Tuesday owing to the procedures in the optional B-sample testing, which got held up due to the pandemic-induced lockdown.

“This is the first instance of detecting this in a blood sample from the time NADA has started testing,” Agarwal said. “We had informed the concerned federation and the weightlifter in March just before the lockdown. Because of the B sample issue, whether they wanted to do it or not, we could not disclose it publicly immediately.”

hGH, as per a research paper titled The Use and Abuse of Human Growth Hormone in Sports, ‘increases lean body mass and decreases total body fat.’ A WADA study also noted that hGH also helps in repairing tissues quicker and is used along with other performance-enhancing drugs for better results.