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After long struggle, Narsingh back on the mat to make up for lost time
MUMBAI: Narsingh Yadav has spent the last few weeks running between New Delhi and Sonepat, even as his attempt to exonerate himself from a dope taint played out
MUMBAI: Narsingh Yadav has spent the last few weeks running between New Delhi and Sonepat, even as his attempt to exonerate himself from a dope taint played out across news channels, social media and newspapers.
After finally being cleared by the Anti-Doping and Disciplinary Panel, he quietly returned to Sports Authority of India’s Kandivali campus on Tuesday along with coach Jagmal Singh and roommate Sandeep Tulsi Yadav — who also tested positive for the same drug metandienone — to train for Rio Olympics away from the media glare.
While there was talk that the 26-year-old would fly to Georgia to train with the rest of the Riobound wrestlers, it is now learnt that Narsingh will spend time at the Kandivali campus, where his camp has closed ranks.
The wrestler will not only stay in an undisclosed location in the campus for the next few days but also train in a separate hall with a few close confidants. “In Sonepat, it was just Narsingh and me from Mumbai while everyone else was from the neighbouring region. We were like outsiders there. Here, this is home,” said Sandeep.
LESSON LEARNT
The incident seems to have taught Narsingh and those around him a lesson.
“Every athlete in the country must have learnt a lesson not to leave their food or drinks unattended. We had never imagined sabotage at this level was possible,” added Sandeep.
Jagmal said that Narsingh’s closest confidant Chandan Yadav will now cook his meals whenever possible while another childhood friend Mahadev Bansode will accompany him everywhere.
“We’ve learnt a lot from Yogeshwar (Dutt). There was a time when we were in Bulgaria recently and his aide had gone out for a few minutes, leaving his protein-shake bottle unattended during a training session. Yogeshwar asked him to immediately throw away the bottle even though everyone in that room was known to him. This was before Narsingh’s positive dope test result,” said Sandeep. FOCUS Having spent the last few days in limbo, time is at a premium. “For the next 10 days, he needs complete focus on training. While he is here, he won’t talk to the media.”
Narsingh’s participation in Rio is still not a settled matter. According to coach Jagmal, the grappler will have to provide another urine sample to Nada. The anti-doping agency will test it before sending the result to the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada). The two agencies will then intimate the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of the result, which will then order IOA to complete Narsingh’s accreditation process.
