Spectre of doping menace

Bangalore: The scene at the National junior athletics championship, highlights one of Indian athletics' worstkept secrets ­ doping.
Syringes are strewn around the restrooms and while some make an attempt to hide the evidence in flush tanks and beneath the sinks, others blatantly throw it around.

While many of the vials found at the Sree Kanteerava stadium are that of painkillers and vitamins, it clearly shows that warning from the National Anti-Doping Agency , the Athletics Federation of India and even the bans meted out to their seniors does not deter athletes from going down the wrong path.

A search conducted by this newspaper in the restrooms revealed the rampant usage of protein supplements and pain killers like Eldervit 12, Astymin-3, Neurobion Forte and Voveran all of which are administered intravenously. Although these do not fall under the banned substances list, illusion of them being performance enhancers is surely a danger sign.

Dope tests by NADA are conducted on medallists and a few random athletes.

While a few dope-cheats do fall into the net, many go undetected given the number of participants which usually exceeds 1500 at
national-level meets.

In a bid to curb the menace and the false notions about it, the Athletics Federation of India on Wednesday decided to conduct checks at the lodging facilities provided to the athletes. Those caught with any banned substance will be barred from participating at the Nationals and will be punished by the Federation.

“We could not carry out the search on Wednesday since it was late and the athletes had left for dinner. On Thursday, AFI officials along with NADA officers will carry out searches and strict action will be taken against the guilty,” said AFI secretary C.K Valson.