Defeat, dope damn India?s day at Athens

It was a torrid Thursday for India that brought the euphoria of Rathore's silver to an abrupt end. At least two weightlifters, Pratima Kumari and Sanamacha Chanu, were tested positive for a banned drug.

The Indian contingent got an embarrassing wake-up call here on Thursday morning that brought the euphoria of Rajyavardhan Rathore's silver medal to an abrupt end. The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) shocked all Indians here, first by announcing that Pratima Kumari (who did not take the stage for her event on Wednesday) had tested positive for testosterone. And then, by saying that one more of India's three other lifters had also tested positive for a banned drug.

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They would not name the lifter, but for once, Indian officials moved quickly. At a press conference shortly after the IWF announcement, India's deputy chef-de-mission Harish Sharma came clean. Sanamacha Chanu, who had finished fourth in her category had tested positive, he said. She is a repeat offender who now faces a life ban.

And there could be worse news yet for the Indian contingent: Karnam Malleswari's test results are due any day now.

Before the Indian contingent left for Athens, the Hindustan Times had reported that two members of the contingent, possibly a lifter and an athlete, had tested positive and said that officials would find some way of suppressing the results. The Sports Ministry and Sports Authority on India (SAI) had aggressively denied the report, saying it brought shame to the country and was anti-national.

But now, the cover-up has been blown.

The IWF release said: "The IWF has subjected all the 260 athletes who qualified for the Olympics to an out-of-competition doping control ... the laboratory returned an adverse analytical finding for the following: Ammouri Wafa (Morocco), C. Victor (Moldova), K. Zoltan (Hungary), Pratima Kumari (India) and Sule Sahbaz (Turkey)."

In accordance with the IWF anti-doping policy, the five have been provisionally suspended.

Indian deputy chef-de-mission Harish Sharma, who had said on Wednesday that Pratima had withdrawn from competition because of a "back problem", said on Thursday that she had tested positive for the steroid testosterone.

Asked why he lied the previous day, he said he couldn't tell the media about the positive test since it had not been officially announced by the IWF.

The plot thickened, however, when reports said Pratima left for India on the morning of August 16, even though Sharma said Indian officials were informed of the positive dope test at night the same day.

Officials still maintain that she left before the result because of a back problem and would not have competed anyway.

To make matters worse, Sharma said he had not disclosed that Pratima was back in India because no one had asked him about her whereabouts.

The issue has all the hallmarks of a massive cover-up by the Indian sports authorities and has been handled in typically amateurish fashion. They have laid the blame solely with the lifter, saying she did not inform the coach about anything she was taking. But that makes no sense.

What makes even less sense is that Pratima was tested twice in the recent past and cleared both times. First by the World Anti-Doping Association in Minsk in mid-July (which was more than a month ago).

The second test was by the Sports Authority of India's labs in the first week of August. How she cleared that (so close to her positive test), is anybody's guess.

Sharma said India would request a B sample test but added it was up to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). IOA president Suresh Kalmadi had earlier said, "I have heard about it. I can only comment after I get all the information."

This was shortly before all Indian sports officials here suddenly became incommunicado.

This positive test has raised several questions about Indian officials' seriousness in tackling the menace of doping. It has also raised questions about SAI's dope laboratory in New Delhi.

The chief of the Indian Weightlifting Federation, Balbir Bhatia, had said three weeks ago:

"We do not want an embarrassment on our hands." Bhatia, who is here as a technical delegate, will be looking for the nearest corner to hide.