Shame after silver: Two Indian lifters test positive

The Indian contingent got an embarrassing wake-up call on Thursday that brought the euphoria of Rajyavardhan Rathore's silver medal to an abrupt end, reports Alok Sinha.

The Indian contingent got an embarrassing wake-up call on Thursday morning that brought the euphoria of Rajyavardhan Rathore's silver medal to an abrupt end.

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The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) shocked all Indians in Athens, 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.

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.