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Indian athletes fail Olympic drug test
Two members of the contingent have reportedly tested positive, reports Navneet Singh.
Two members of the Indian contingent for the Athens Olympics, including a top track and field athlete, have reportedly tested positive for drugs.
A Sports Ministry official told the Hindustan Times that there had been rumours from Monday night of the possibility of positive dope tests, but naming anyone would lead to huge embarrassment for the entire contingent. "The names might never be made public," he said. "If they are dropped, it might be for other reasons." The possibility is that injuries or illness will be used as excuses.
Long jumper Amritpal Singh was dropped from the contingent last week ostensibly because of injury. It is not known whether he is one of the athletes concerned. The confusion is compounded by the fact that it is not known when the results of the dope tests were released.
Sources said the dope tests of members of the athletics squad were conducted after the July 23 national circuit meet in Bangalore.
M.K. Mishra, the chief executive officer of the SAI Dope Control Centre, was not available for comment.
According to reliable sources, the federations whose players are supposed to have tested positive may conceal the facts. "In the past some players tested positive before big events but were re-tested to ensure that they were clean before they boarded the flight," said a top SAI official on condition of anonymity.
Other SAI officials were not giving anything away. "We don't know anything about the dope test. Kindly contact the CEO, Dope Control Centre," said one official.
The athletes cleared by the ministry for Athens are K.M. Beenu, Bahadur Singh, Vikas Gauwda, Anil Kumar, Anju Bobby George, J.J. Sobha, Manjit Kaur, Chitra Somen, Neelam J. Singh, Seema Antil, Harwant Kaur, Bobby Aloysius, Soma Biswas, Saraswati Saha, Rajwinder Kaur, K.M. Beenamol and S. Geetha.
Anju Bobby George is away competing on the European circuit and will reach Athens shortly.
Women weightlifters who have been cleared include Olympic bronze medallist Karnam Malleswari, Prathima, Sanamacha Chanu and Kunjarani Devi.
