Sport on Speed

Things haven8217;t been helped by the Indian Olympic Association, which as usual tried to evade the topic. Instead of averting further damage by coming out clean from the start, the officials began avoiding the Indian media.

Throughout Thursday, August 19, Indian officials in Athens pretended they knew next to nothing about the weightlifting scandal. Accosted by reporters after the tennis men8217;s double semi-final, Randhir Singh said he had no idea that a second weightlifter 8212; one other than Pratima Kumari 8212; had been provisionally indicted for doping. 8216;8216;I have just heard it from a journalist8217;8217;, he said.

At a press conference early in the evening, the president of the International Weightlifting Federation had announced that a second Indian drug user had been caught. He declined to name her till a corroborative test result. Some hours later, it emerged Sanamacha Chanu was the guilty person. By then it was too late for journalists to reach her. Early the next morning, Chanu flew out of Athens.

Was the IOA giving her time to escape? At the tennis stadium Randhir explained: 8216;8216;The IOA has nothing to do with it. The name of the second weightlifter must have been conveyed to the chef de mission. He hasn8217;t told me.8217;8217;

Stranger still was the conversation a regional newspaper journalist had with an IOA official during the tennis semi-final, just before Randhir8217;s impromptu 8216;8216;I know nothing8217;8217; briefing. 8216;8216;Now that a second weightlifter has been named8217;8217;, said the journalist, 8216;8216;what action will you take against Malleswari?8217;8217;

8216;8216;Not Malleswari8217;8217;, said the official, with a wave of his hand, 8216;8216;it8217;s Sanamacha Chanu.8217;8217;

One man clear in his mind about the rights and wrongs was International Weightlifting Federation IWF president Tomas Ajan. In the full glare of the world8217;s media, he laid into the IOA. 8216;8216;We have told your national Olympic committee to be careful8217;8217;, he said in the direction of the Indians, 8216;8216;but they didn8217;t listen.8217;8217;

Rattled by Ajan8217;s harsh words, IOA president Suresh Kalmadi was forced to announce the setting up of a two-man enquiry commission. Once again, too little too late: Action should have been taken many years ago, when positive cases first started cropping up in athletics and weightlifting.

Contrary to popular perception, doping in Indian sport is not a phenomenon of the 1990s. The first reported case of a visible doping incident was as far back as 1968, during the selection trials for the Mexico Olympic Games. Kirpal Singh, the national 5,000 and 10,000 metres record holder, went up the steps of the Railway Stadium in New Delhi. Obviously on stimulants, Kirpal 8212; whose 5,000m timings were close to the world record 8212; suddenly became delirious midway through the race. He began frothing at the mouth and abusing people in the stands. Soon, he collapsed.

It was his luck that Railway coach R S Chowhan8217;s wife was a doctor and present at the stadium. She understood Kirpal8217;s state well in time and rushed him to the Railway Hospital. He was given a stomach wash and brought back to senses but it took him five years to get out of the mess and come back to the track. By then he8217;d lost precious time and never made it big as a runner. A bright career of an otherwise brilliant runner was ruined.

During the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi Mohd Zinkawi, the silver medalist in shot put, had accused Indian champion Bahadur Singh of not reporting for a dope test. Bahadur went on win the gold despite Zinkawi8217;s protests. Two months later, at the Asian Championship in Kuwait, Zinkawi comprehensively beat Bahadur to prove his point.

They were lucky. back in the late 1960s, Indian Railways star middle-distance runner Jarnail Singh died while trying to improve his timing with the help of stimulants At a race in the Inter Railway Cross Country Championship in Bathinda, Jarnail suffered extreme exhaustion and collapsed as he crossed the finish line. He never got up.

More recently, national discus champion Ajit Bhaduria lost his life 8212; following a heart attack 8212; at the age of 23. He was reportedly on drugs that played havoc with his body system.

That things haven8217;t really changed can be gauged from what Pratima told this paper. Pal Singh Sandhu, the chief Indian coach, has been around ever since the first doping cases cropped up in the sport in the 1990s. 8216;8216;Sandhu was the coach when so many lifters were caught for doping last year,8217;8217; she said. 8216;8216;They were all suspended but he is still around.8217;8217;

And so are the cases of doping, far too prolific in the absence of any work done by the Sports Ministry. Sure, there is a dope-testing lab at the Sports Authority of India in New Delhi8217;s Nehru Stadium complex 8212; but it lacks IOC accreditation and, thereby, credibility. Its results can be interpreted any way by any interested part and, crucially, an athlete has the right to challenge its findings in court.

Ministry officials, who routinely attend anti-doping conferences abroad, have not bothered to go beyond that. Despite several reminders by World Anti-Doping Agency to pay up the required fee and come under its code, the government has not taken any step. The Ministry8217;s argument is that WADA is not a legal body 8212; but then neither is the SAI lab!

Back to Greece, where the host nation is reeling under a severely embarrassing doping scandal of its own. Two sprinters withdrew from the Games before they could be tested; one weightlifter tested positive on Friday. And soon after that, the head of the Greek Olympic team offered to resign.

We8217;ve heard no similar sounds from any of our officials. And that sums up this story nicely: Taking responsibility for doping is simply Greek to our officials.

With Ashok Malik in Athens

BALCO: BIGGEST OF THEM ALL?
So you think India has it bad? It8217;s nothing compared to the scandal rocking American track and field: The BALCO doping case, which has claimed more stars than there are on Old Glory.

WHAT8217;S BALCO? Back in the early 1980s, Victor Conte set up Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative to make nutritional supplements for athletes. It started by analysing urine and blood samples but came under the scanner in June 2003 when a track coach anonymously sent a syringe containing an unknown substance to the US Anti-Doping Agency. This unknown substance later turned out to be tetrahydrogestrinone THG, designed to evade all existing drugs tests

WHO8217;S IN IT? Six months of investigations also involving the US Internal Revenue Service traced the source of THG back to BALCO and Conte. And therefore placed some of BALCO8217;s high-profile clients 8212; sprinters Marion Jones, Kelli White, Tim Montgomery, baseballer Barry Bonds and others 8212; under the microscope

HOW WIDESPREAD? Very. Athletes were the first to come under its ambit, but investigations show the net is much wider. Reports suggest that a link between Conte and disgraced Greek sprinters Kenteris and Thanou. The net may extend across North America and Europe

DID THG WORK? Its greatest achievement was brought to light in May 2004, when it was reported that in 2000-01, Tim Montgomery and four others, including Conte, had formed 8216;Project World Record8217;, designed to make Montgomery the 8216;world8217;s fastest man8217;8217;. Montgomery hit 9.78 in September, 2002

WHERE8217;S CONTE NOW? A former bassist with jazz legend Herbie Hancock and then, curiously, with a band called Pure Food and Drug Act, Conte is under a Grand Jury Investigation

Shamya Dasgupta