On the world stage, two lifters get 'backaches'

After Tuesday's euphoria, the spirits of the Indian contingent nose-dived on Wednesday. One weightlifter didn't even lift and a shot putter got all his throws wrong.

After Tuesday's euphoria and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's historic shooting at the ranges in the Markopoulo hills, the spirits of the Indian contingent nose-dived on Wednesday.

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One weightlifter didn't even lift and a shot putter got all his throws wrong.

There was some drama at the Nikia weightlifting hall on Wednesday evening. After Kunjarani's gallant show, a lot was expected from Karnam Malleswari and her understudy Prathima Kumari in the 63-kg category.

But Malleswari, the bronze medallist at the Sydney Games, walked up to the stage, bent down for the snatch, tried to lift the barbell and suddenly, to everyone's horror, threw it down and walked away.

Prathima's name didn't even figure in the starting line-up.

After throwing down the weight, Malleswari walked back into the warm-up area, pulled her track bottoms up to her knees and sat down, completely still. The huge screen in the hall soon said she had pulled out.

What had gone wrong? One lifter did not turn up; the other simply walked away as if suffering from stage fright.

After a bewildering wait, the Indian deputy chef-de-mission Harish Sharma said that Prathima had "a back pain two days ago and her name had been withdrawn".

What happened to Malleswari, Bahadur?

It was a surprising explanation: till Wednesday morning, her name was there in the line-up on the official master computer.

Then came another long wait in the "mixed zone" — for the coaches and Malleswari. She was immediately taken to hospital. Dr P.S.M. Chandran, who is in Athens with the Indian contingent, said: "She complained of pain in the morning and again when she went on the stage.

"The doctors are investigating," he said. Pal Singh Sandhu, the national coach, confirmed that but not before saying, "Why don't you ask her personal coach Taranenko?"

But the Belarussian coach was nowhere to be seen. Malleswari soon walked out of hospital and said her bit.

"I suffered from a pain in the back this morning but was not too worried because it is an old problem. I have been taking medicines and practicing. I felt the pain again in the warm-up area and knew the signs were bad. I still went on to the stage, tried to lift but my back gave way. It is disappointing," she said.

"The bronze was there for the taking. It was such an easy draw. One lift would have been enough for me. What can I say, it was not destined... the hard work of four years has gone down the drain," she added.

Earlier, shot-putter Bahadur Singh's performance raised eyebrows. He fouled all his three throws at the Olympia stadium, about 100 kilometers from Athens.

Forget Rathore, the setting of the event — where the Games were held thousands of years ago — and the occasion were apparently not inspiring enough for the thrower.

Bahadur, who has a personal best of 204m, had also fouled all three attempts in the Asian Championships at Jakarta in 2000. He subsequently tested positive for a stimulant at the Asian Grand Prix in Bangkok in 2002.

Wednesday added another chapter to his book of shame.