Doping hits school sports, is ruining promising careers
NEW DELHI: ‘Catch them young’ is a phrase fast turning on its head, going by the worrying trend of India’s schoolboys and girls testing positive for performanceenhancing drugs.
As the nation grapples with doping among seniors, a rising number of positive tests from school competitions shows just how deep the rot is.
The alarm bells are ringing, with many testing positive at the National School Games as well as the All-india Inter-university Games. Recently, at a CBSE track and field competition, a female athlete tested positive for steroids. Rampant doping has been reported from the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) competitions as well.
The situation is scary. Among 62 athletes caught and suspended in tests done by the National Antidoping Agency, many are from competitions such as inter-school meets, which are not conducted by national federations.
Experts feel doping at an early age can stunt growth, affect vital organs and leave youngsters prone to injuries, in the process shattering their dreams of graduating to the senior and international levels.
Former Asian Games sprint champion R Gnanasekaran is dejected. He says the situation is such that toilets at venues of zonal and district-level junior meets are littered with disposable syringes. “The doping culture is growing,” he warns.
Ashok Ahuja, former head of the sports medicine centre at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala says youngsters are ignor doping, ruining their careers at the formative stage itself.
He says fewer junior champions graduate to the senior level because the constant use of drugs, including steroids, leaves young athletes more prone to injuries. “This is because tendons and ligaments are the most affected while growing,” he says. Prolonged doping can damage vital organs and cause high blood pressure that can cause aggressive behaviour.
Rajesh Mishra, secretary general of SGFI which hosts interschool competitions, denies doping cases are on the rise. But he admits dope tests are conducted only for athletics, weightlifting and wrestling due to a lack of funds. “We don’t have any funds earmarked to tackle the doping SGFI also doesn’t have a programme to educate youngsters on the harm caused by doping.
There have been 11 positive cases from university competitions as well this year, four of them judokas. Gurdip Singh, secretary-sports, Association of Indian Universities (AIU), concedes that there could be more cases as it conducts meets in many disciplines.
Former marathon runner Sunita Godara says: “Budding athletes have this misconception that without pills, they cannot become champions. The system of shortcuts has taken root in our society. Someone has to educate them. Otherwise, the day is not far off when our pool of elite athletes shrinks to just a few ”