Gulveer Singh’s former coach Mohammad Yunus Khan has been temporarily suspended by NADA

Mohammad Yunus Khan, the athletics coach who guided distance runner Gulveer Singh during his formative years, has been provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for an alleged anti-doping rule violation involving complicity.

Khan, a middle and long track coach at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune, has been charged under Article 2.9 of the NADA rules, which prohibits intentional complicity in anti-doping violations. The specific charges against him have not been made public.

The 28-year-old former national-level distance runner also coached other prominent Indian athletes, including Kartik Kumar and marathon runner Sawan Barwal, during their formative years. The NADA separately provisionally suspended seven male and female athletes, along with three wrestlers and two weightlifters.

WHAT ARE THE FEES?

Khan, who won medals at national events before moving into coaching, spotted Gulveer during the 2021 Arunachal Pradesh cross-country race. Gulveer, who joined the Indian Army in 2018, received guidance from Khan during his early years at the elite level.

Article 2.9 of the NADA Rules deals with aiding, abetting, aiding, abetting, conspiring, covering up or other forms of intentional complicity or attempted complicity in an anti-doping rule violation.

GULVER’S ENTRY

Gulveer has since set several national records. At the recent Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, he won silver medals in the 1500m and 10000m and a bronze in the 5000m. He also won a bronze in the 10000m at the 2022 Asian Games.

In 2024, Gulveer moved to Colorado Springs in the United States to train under Scott Simmons and has since spent most of his time training abroad.

Khan also helped identify and develop Kartik Kumar, who won silver in the 10,000 m at the 2022 Asian Games. Kartik received a three-year ban from the United States Anti-Doping Agency in November 2025 after testing positive for several banned anabolic substances in out-of-competition tests.

Marathon runner Sawan Barwal also trained under Khan at ASI during its formative years. Khan was among the coaches who advised Barwal to switch from other distance events to the marathon.

Barwal broke Shivnath Singh’s 48-year-old national marathon record in Rotterdam in April and later bettered his own mark by winning silver at the Asian Games in Japan.

SEVERAL ATHLETES TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED

NADA also temporarily suspended seven athletes, mostly in cases involving alleged steroid doping. They are hammer thrower Samir Deshmukh, 800m runners Aditya Patial and Shiva Tomar, 400m runner Mehardeep Kaur, 1500m runner Sakir, javelin thrower Amit Majumdar and shot putter Rahul.

Wrestlers Sushant Ambaji Tambulkar, Avinash and Chirag were also provisionally suspended along with two weightlifters, Bhawana and a minor.

Khan’s suspension remains provisional and the exact nature of the charges has not been disclosed. The charge alone does not prove that he personally tested positive for a banned substance.

– The end