Shortcut to limelight lands thrower Rohit in dope net
With teenage javelin thrower Rohit Yadav testing positive for banned drug stanozolol, the focus is back on youngsters taking shortcut to glory.
Yadav, who won gold at the Youth National Athletics Championships at Hyderabad in April, faces a four-year ban if proved guilty. His outstanding performance in the recent past had also helped him achieve the qualifying mark of 66m for the upcoming World Youth Athletics Championships at Nairobi, Kenya. The event is scheduled to take place from July 12-16.
STRIPPED OF SILVER
Yadav’s silver-medal winning throw of 74.30m at the just-concluded Asian Youth Athletics Championships held at Bangkok was nearly two metres short of his gold-winning effort of 76.11m at the Nationals in April. At the Asian meet, India finished third overall with 14 medals --- five of them gold, five silver and four bronze. Yadav has been stripped of his silver medal as his urine sample that tested positive, was taken in April. India’s medal tally has gone down to 13.
Yadav was ranked World No. 6 in the youth category after his show at the Nationals. An athletics expert from Uttar Pradesh said that Yadav had been hurling the javelin over 70m regularly in training sessions.
He hails from a village near Jaunpur, UP, and was recently selected for the Sports Authority of India (SAI) day-boarding scheme at Allahabad.
In the previous world youth meet held in Cali, Colombia, Vladislav Palyunin of Uzbekistan won the bronze with an effort 76.77m. Going by this result, Yadav was set for a good finish at the World Championships.
The 16-year-old, a gold medallist at the 2016 World School Games, is the latest to feature in the growing list of dope cheats at the grassroots level.
Over the last 18 months, more than half-a-dozen school champions have failed dope test. Among them are Delhi-based throwers Ankit Dahiya and Anchal Yadav.
This isn’t a new phenomenon in sporting world, says Ashok Ahuja, former head of the sports medicine department of SAI. He, however, says that the number of budding athletes taking shortcut to fame is on the rise.
Stanozolol is an anabolic steroid made famous by disgraced Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson. He failed dope test at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. The drug is easily available over the counter in the country. “Since stanozolol, which helps boost muscles, is not so expensive, it is the most preferred drug,” said Ahuja.
Among those who have failed dope test for anabolic steroid including stanozolol this year includes Tejvir Singh (handball), Subrata Nandi (swimming) Jagseer Singh (para-athlete) and Gaurav Yadav (athletics).
Since stanozolol, which helps boost muscles, is not so expensive, it is the most preferred drug A AHUJA, sports medicine expert