Doping in Indian athletics continues
It’s hideous, something sinister and outright disgraceful in sport. The scourge of doping, i.e. using performance enhancing drugs to do better, is a malaise that has seeped far and wide across the globe. Every now and then, the pedestal upon which our sportspersons are placed is jolted with stars testing positive. The latest revelation that at least two Olympic core group athletes from our country have tested positive for a banned substance paints a grim picture. It is disturbing ahead of the postponed Tokyo Olympics in July.
It’s not new that India figures on this ignominious list ahead of any major competition. In fact, world over, positive doping cases increase during the quadrennial extravaganza year. There have been instances when athletes embarrass their nations ahead of and during the Olympics. Even in India there is a similar narrative. There have been instances where athletes were dropped just before boarding the flight because of failing a test. There were also occasions when athletes tested positive during Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, … the list is endless. What seems to be a grave concern here is that according to the NADA, Olympic core group athletes have tested positive. It’s disturbing as at least one athlete who is part of the national camp has tested positive for a specified substance. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) did not allow any of them to leave camp even during the lockdown. If it is a 4x400 athlete, the plot gets more intriguing as the chief national coach and the foreign coach are all stationed in Patiala. Add to this AFI’s zero tolerance policy as far as doping is concerned, and the story only gets murkier and more embarrassing.
Athletics is always the worst among defaulters in India. We may not be in the top when it comes to medals at the Olympics but when it comes to doping, we are right up there. According to the 2019 Anti-Doping Testing figures report by the WADA in December, India, for the first time, topped the chart with 225 positive cases from 4,004 samples. Athletics was among the top defaulters. It’s time for AFI to wake up and address the issue at hand.