CHENNAI: Top Indian sprinter Sekar Dhanalakshmi has been handed a three-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit of the world governing body for failing an out-of-competition dope test in May.

Dhanalakshmi’s sample taken on May 2 in Antalya, Turkey where she had a training stint along with other Indian athletes, was found to contain metandienone. The test was done in Switzerland.The period of ineligibility was to be four years for such cases. But Dhanalakshmi admitted to the doping offence and accepted the sanction, which led to a one-year reduction in her ban period. The 24-year-old Tamil Nadu athlete will now serve a three-year ban from July 11, the date of provisional suspension.