The scope for dope in sports
Pravin Kumar
INDIA set a record of sorts at the recent 14th Asian Games at Busan. Sunita Rani was the only athlete who failed the drug test, though 794 samples, in all, were collected. She was stripped of both her medals for testing positive for the prohibited drug, nandrolone.

Kozhikode nationals a disgrace
Ramu Sharma
KERALA recently organised the National Mini and Subjunior Handball Championships at Kozhikode. The usual reports on the winners and losers and the odd stars were all available through the media. But that was only part of the report. The real story is of the horrors of the participants who had to live through the championships in primitive conditions.

Gurdaspur — a nursery of gymnastics
Neeraj Bagga
IT is said the country has a cricket culture instead of a sports culture but the border town of Gurdaspur has nurtured a gymnastics culture since long. Gurdaspur has the rare distinction of producing the first gymnasts for the country who represented India in the Olympics in 1952.

The scope for dope in sports
Pravin Kumar

INDIA set a record of sorts at the recent 14th Asian Games at Busan. Sunita Rani was the only athlete who failed the drug test, though 794 samples, in all, were collected. She was stripped of both her medals for testing positive for the prohibited drug, nandrolone.

As part of the fallout, the reliability of the lab tests at Busan has been questioned, as well as the procedure for collecting samples. The claim that the competitors were tested in India before leaving for Busan does not hold much water, for the Nehru Stadium control lab at New Delhi is not an accredited one. In any case, the performance of Indian athletes abroad is nowhere near their performance at home.

Questions are also being raised about the wisdom of sending Indian athletes to the former Soviet Union republics for training. No doubt, these coaches come cheap. But the former track champion, P.T. Usha, has been quoted as saying that, though the dope problem has existed in India since 1982, it has been aggravated since then by the employment of Russian and Ukrainian coaches. An Indian Asian gold medallist is quoted as saying that the Ukraine, which does not even have a proper track, is the best place for finding out about steroids and using them on the sly. Sunita Rani was under a cloud before the Sydney Olympics (2000), having taken unknown injections prescribed by a Ukrainian coach, apparently to fix a stress fracture of the hips: it is unlikely that she was acting on her own.

Indian athletes resorting to drugs is only part of the big picture. On the whole, the countries of the former Soviet bloc have yet to live down the suspicion that their pre-eminence in sports has been partly fuelled by performance-enhancing drugs. In 1977, the East German sprinter, Renata Newfield revealed that she had been threatened with reprisals if she did not take ‘assistance’ in the form of anabolic steroids. According to the American swimming coach, Richard Quickly, the accomplishments of both East Germany and China in the early 1990s were tainted by revelations of resort to performance enhancing drugs. Quick says that it is harder to detect cheaters now. He criticises the quality and frequency of testing.

Failure in the laboratory quality system was proved in several nandrolone cases, according to Adriaan M.H. van der Veen, of the chemistry department of the Nederlands Meeinstitute the Nederlands, at a conference held in Berlin in September, 2002. In doping cases, estimation of measurement uncertainty is often not done in accordance with the current standards; this can lead to false positives’ with devastating consequences for the athletes, the sports association and the lab. The IOC has accepted officially that false positives can have a likelihood of 1:1,000. This level was often much smaller, i.e. 1:20. The use of drugs by athletes dates from the ancient Olympics, when strychnine-laced alcohol or mushroom potions, possibly hallucinogenic, was used to mask pain. During the 19th century, ‘ergogenic aids’ used by athletes have included caffeine, alcohol, nitroglycerine, opium and even strychnine. The dramatic increase in drug misuse came about in 1960, when sports became a part of the general belief in society that there was a drug for every disease. Sportspersons believed that drugs would take them beyond the peaks achieved by hard work and endurance training.

Testing for drugs

Testing for drugs began with the 1968 Olympics (Mexico) City, but up to 1983, the technology available for detection was very primitive. In 1983, before the Pan American Games at Caracas, Prof Donike of Cologne set the stage for the present sophisticated testing by implementing gas chromatography and mass spectrometry [GC and MS] in an analytical process.

Many performance-enhancing substances are banned by the IOC and the international governing bodies of various sports.

(To be concluded)

Kozhikode nationals a disgrace
Ramu Sharma

KERALA recently organised the National Mini and Subjunior Handball Championships at Kozhikode. The usual reports on the winners and losers and the odd stars were all available through the media. But that was only part of the report. The real story is of the horrors of the participants who had to live through the championships in primitive conditions. It came only in the final stages of the competition and that too thanks reportedly to the visuals aired in two television channels and pictures that appeared in many newspapers.

The living conditions provided by the organisers and detailed by a major national daily with Chennai as headquarters presents a shocking picture. Just imagine some of the boys teams put up in shops under construction, without windows or doors but just shutters. There was of course no such luxury as fans in the sweltering heat of Kerala or toilet facilities.

And what about the girls teams. Some of them were accommodated in the corridors of the venue at the V.K. Krishna Menon Indoor Stadium. Three teams, namely Andhra Pradesh, Manipur and Maharashtra were put up in one room at the stadium. Can you imagine 36 players in just one room?

Add to these discomforts lack of sufficient drinking water, proper toilets, medical facilities, wholesome food and other basic essentials that make up for decent living and you have a concentration camp-like atmosphere. That in essence was what the young boys and girls, future sportspersons of the country, had to go through for the sake of taking part in the National Handball Championships at Kozhikode.

There was some sort of explanations from the organising secretary, Mr K. Ramadas. He refuted some of the allegations and took refuge in the fact that the promised funds were not made available. Frankly his explanations had no substance. And it is also not the first time that such excuses have been forwarded for poor facilities.

The main question now is what next? Some action has to be taken and the culprits punished. And more importantly there should be no repetition of what transpired in Kozhikode. The Sports Ministry and the Indian Olympic Association should set up an inquiry committee into the Kozhikode championships and tell the facts to the world.

It must be accepted here that by and large most of the organisers of major tournaments in India do not lay emphasis on proper board and lodging facilities for the participants. And it may not be out of place here that very rarely sufficient stress is laid on providing clean toilets. Perhaps it is an Indian ethos but in most places not much importance is given to clean bathrooms and proper drinking water. It is time that the IOA and the ministry insist on the organisers of all national tournaments to ensure that basic facilities must be made available to the participants. They are as important as modern infrastructure to improve the standards. Given the general background of a majority of the participants it can be safely said that what is need is not five-star treatment but it does mean a clean atmosphere and proper living facilities. Not much to ask?

There are some vital questions unanswered on the Kozikhode issue. Was there an observer sent to check on the facilities available at the venue? If so what is the report? If not, why not? The normal practice should be for the national federation to send an advance party and make sure that everything is in order for the championship to be conducted. And as for the money part of it concerned how did the Kerala Handball Association offer to host the Championships without sufficient money in their pockets?

The poor facilities of the Kozhikode nationals reminds one of the many such experiences of earlier days where teams arriving at the station were left stranded, clueless as to the hosts and of the arrangements made for their stay. But things have changed now or have they?

According to reports facilities afforded during Inter-University competition in most centres are still far from adequate. The most glaring drawbacks still appear to be in the area of basics, toilet facilities and drinking water. Fortunately our young men and women from the universities have very high toleration rate. For them the most important thing is to take part. But it is not fair to tax their patience.

It is time that the ministry and the IOA set some minimum requirements standards in terms of board, lodging and other minimum requirements for the participants. Advance groups must first ensure that the facilities meet the requirements. There is no point in hosting a major tournament if the facilities are not available.

Gurdaspur — a nursery of gymnastics
Neeraj Bagga

IT is said the country has a cricket culture instead of a sports culture but the border town of Gurdaspur has nurtured a gymnastics culture since long. Gurdaspur has the rare distinction of producing the first gymnasts for the country who represented India in the Olympics in 1952. Even today more than half the players of the national team comprise girls of this district. And Punjab’s women’s team totally comprises players from Gurdaspur.

Due to continuous efforts of the players and their achievements the sport has become a favourite parttime in this border district. It is interesting to note that the town has population of about 67,000 and is located in the salubrious region of upper Bari Doab, which means upper part of the area between the Beas and Ravi.

It was in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki that two gymnasts — Vir Singh and Khushi Ram — represented the country and then in 1982 and 1986 Asian Games Sharanjit Singh donned national colours. In the Children of Asia international sports competition held at Yakustk (Russia) in 2000, out of three players from India, two were from Gurdaspur. In the World Championship held in Belgium in 2001, out of five gymnasts three were from Gurdaspur.

The efforts of SAI gymnastics coach Jagtar Singh cannot be overlooked since he came to Gurdaspur as a coach in 1982. According to him, the girls had not done anything in the field and their contribution was negligible. Till now he has the credit of producing 10 international players and around 100 national players. “Gymnastics culture has taken roots in the city and more and more aspirants have started enrolling themselves in the sport”, he quipped.

Jagtar hails from a village located near Gurdaspur. His personal ambition was to represent the country at the international level which remained unfulfilled. However, he made serious efforts to become a good coach and produce internationals.

Today, he looks for qualities like dedication and hard work while picking trainees. In the year 2000, his trainee Rohika brought the first gold medal to the country from Russia. But the response of the local people was disappointing. To change the approach, a society was formed which was named the District Gymnastics Welfare Society, Gurdaspur. Today the city has a gymnasium hall and proper infrastructure for training. As many as 60 girls are being trained in gymnastics today and the number is increasing. The response from parents is encouraging.

SPORTS MAIL

Youzhny hero of Russian win

RUSSIA made history by winning the Davis Cup for the first time. They dethroned holders France 3-2 in a nail-biting and dramatic finish. They battled courageously to claw their way back from a 2-1 deficit to claim the coveted cup. It was Marat Safin who levelled the tie at 2-2 by winning the first reverse singles but it was left to the lesser-known Mikhail Youzhny to go for the kill and he did not disappoint. Despite being in arrears by two sets, he did not throw in the towel. Rather he raised his game by several notches and clinched the issue by winning the deciding singles which turned out to be a battle royal between two of the most inexperienced players ever to feature in a title match. No team has ever come back from being 2-1 down in a Davis Cup final to win the title since 1964 but Russia have done it through sheer grit.

TARSEM S. BUMRAH
Batala

RAVINDER MAINI
Ropar

UJAGAR SINGH
Chandigarh