While terming Pratima Kumari's positive test at the Athens Olympics as "very, very sad", the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) chief on Thursday said a "detailed inquiry" would be launched into the episode.
"It's very, very sad. After they come back, we will have a detailed inquiry - the government would also launch an inquiry," IWF president H.S. Dora said.
Pratima, 28, was one of the two entrants in the 63-kg event - Karnam Malleswari being the other -- but she did not even turn up for her event Wednesday.
When Malleswari, a bronze medallist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, dramatically walked off from the stage citing a "back injury", it was discovered that Pratima had pulled out Wednesday itself, also complaining of a "back problem".
Pratima, among the five athletes who have tested positive, was one of the four Indian women weightlifters who had qualified for the Aug 13-28 Olympics. She won two gold medals at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.
Dora, who took over as IWF president last year, was clueless about the Pratima case.
{{/usCountry}}Dora, who took over as IWF president last year, was clueless about the Pratima case.
{{/usCountry}}"I don't know what's happened," was Dora's first reaction when IANS approached him.
Dora, a former commissioner of Central Vigilance Commission, also looked helpless.
"See, we cannot control all the players. After all, they are grown up people," he said, indicating that she might have taken something after leaving the Indian shores.
Dora said that Pratima, along with other athletes, had tested negative in India before heading for Belarus where the four lifters trained ahead of the Olympics.
"Since her urine sample had tested negative at our laboratory (of the Sports Authority of India in New Delhi), it must have been her blood test that would have tested positive," guessed Dora.
India drew a blank in the weightlifting competition, with veteran Kunjarani Devi (48-kg class category) and Sanamacha Chanu (53 kg) finishing the best of the four - at fourth places.
No Indian male weightlifter could qualify for the Olympic Games.