Manju Wanniarachchi


Manju Dinesh Kumara Wanniarachchi is a Sri Lankan boxer who won a gold medal at the XIX Commonwealth Games in the bantamweight 56-kilo category, defeating Sean McGoldrick of Wales in the final, but was later stripped of his medal after failing a drug test. He is an old boy of Vidyartha College, Kandy.

Drugs

On 24 October 2010 National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka announced that Wanniarachchi had failed a drug test taken during the Commonwealth Games. A urine sample provided by the boxer had contained nandrolone, a banned performance-enhancing drug. Wanniarachchi claims he failed the drug test due to the asthma medication he was taking. Wanniarachchi subsequently failed the second doping test for a banned steroid. The Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka said the "B" sample of 30-year-old Wanniarachchi's urine tested positive for nandrolone, a performance-enhancing substance. However, Wanniarachchi intends to launch an appeal.
Wanniarachchi was suspended from all boxing meets by the National Anti Doping Organization of Sri Lanka in March 2011. The Commonwealth Games Federation stripped Wanniarachchi of his gold medal on 8 May 2011 after a meeting of Federation Court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On 23 May 2011, Wanniarachchi announced he was retiring from boxing. After the lapse of the appeal period, McGoldrick was awarded the gold medal on 6 June 2011.