Karnam Malleswari might have brought home India’s only medal from the Sydney Olympics in 2000 but the forecast for Athens 2004 appears bleak. The senior batch is on a downswing and the juniors practically all ‘doped’. And Weightlifting Federation of India (WFI) secretary Balbir Singh Bhatia says India won’t win a medal at Athens. ‘‘We are not in a good position at all. As far as medals at Athens are concerned, I would say no. And the immediate future isn’t very bright either’’, Bhatia says. Weighty issues What the favourites are doing MALLESWARI: Recently delivered a child, now lifting 10 kg below cut-off point KUNJARANI: Lifting 185 kg, bronze mark is around 192 kg CHANU: Lifting well below best, which got her sixth place at Sydney SHAILAJA PUJARI: Serving 2-year ban after testing positive SIMPLE BUMRA: Left NIS camp after contracting jaundice, yet to return First, the present. Top names like Malleswari, Kunjarani Devi and Sanamacha Chanu, currently training at the National Insitute of Sports, Patiala, are lifting weights far below the estimated international medal-winning mark (see box). As for the batch of youngsters, it’s a story of a lot of promise gone to waste, primarily as a result of indiscriminate and meaningless injection of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Chanu’s is a known story of repeat offences, which has almost nipped her promising career in the bud. Bhatia, though, chooses to defend Chanu, saying that part of her demise has been caused by the media, which ‘‘disheartened’’ her. The truth is that she messed up repeatedly, starting 1994. Another youngster of whom much was expected was 23-year-old Shailaja Pujari. The Manchester Commonwealth Games gold medallist was recently banned for two years after testing positive for a banned steroid. She was one of several young lifters banned for varying durations after testing positive at the 2002 National Games in Hyderabad. Interestingly, Bhatia blames the doping scandal for having taken away what he calls the ‘‘second-string’’ of lifters in the country. ‘‘Of the second string, the ranked ones have all tested positive. How can we do well if our lifters don’t get the right food supplements? How will they watch their weight? We are so scared today of any food supplements that we shy away from them. What if there is some imperfection in them’’, he asks in a bizarre line of defence. Bhatia’s rage against the establishment — forgetting, perhaps, that he is part of it — is echoed by WFI joint secretary Thiru Tamilselvan, a former lifter. He believes the problem lies in the lack of any attempt to build a second line. ‘‘We have always hoped for lifters to come in. Girls need to be brought in at 15-16, not when they are 22-23. The coaches are not good enough. The training is not good. There is no concept of science. All the lifters at NIS today are around 30. How can they improve at this age? There is no chance at Athens or any time after that for a long time.’’
