Bangladesh weightlifter Mabia Akter has been banned from all competitive sports for two years after testing positive in a doping test, dealing a crushing blow to her career, reports Daily Sun.
On Sunday, the sanction was imposed by the Results Management Committee of the South Asia Regional Anti-Doping Organization in line with the World Anti-Doping Agency Code, with Mabia formally notified by letter last Thursday.
The case stems from the Islamic Solidarity Games held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2025, where her sample was collected during a routine pre-competition doping control.
Laboratory analysis detected the presence of banned diuretics, commonly known as “water pills”, which are used medically to expel excess water and salt from the body.
While such substances can be effective for rapid weight reduction in weight-category sports, they are strictly prohibited in international competition as they can act as masking agents for other banned substances.
Mabia’s offence was confirmed after her B-sample returned the same result, sealing the two-year suspension, though she retains the right to appeal.
Her fall is stark. Introduced to weightlifting by her uncle in 2010, Mabia dominated the domestic circuit from 2013 and rose from poverty to international success, Agamir Somoy cited.
Mabia earned the gold medal for Bangladesh in the 12th South Asian Games in the women’s 63-kg weight category of weightlifting at the Bhogeshwari Phukanani Indoor Stadium in Dispur, Guwahati, in February 2026. She won Bangladesh’s first-ever weightlifting gold at the 2016 South Asian Games in the 63kg category and repeated the feat at the 2019 SA Games in Nepal.
Finishing sixth at the 2018 Commonwealth Games after lifting a total of 180kg remains one of her finest achievements.
However, recent years have been turbulent, marked by disputes with coaches, federation neglect, and personal struggles.
Only days ago, Mabia had declared defiantly, “I am not finished.”
Cruelly, the battle has now been taken away from her for two full years — a devastating setback for a 26-year-old weightlifter standing at the twilight of her career.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
