India’s historic triumph in the 4x400 metre women’s relay events at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games was short-lived after three of the four gold-winning athletes tested positive for banned substance methandienone. The quartet of Manjeet Kaur, Sini Jose, Ashwini Akkunji and Mandeep Kaur were toast of the country until their shameful act was exposed. Only Manjeet Kaur’s reputation remains untainted.

Ashwini’s scandalous doping involvement came as a rude jolt to the athletics fraternity who were already beginning to mention the tainted Udipi girl and the Indian living legend P.T. Usha in the same breath. Ashwini, after winning two gold medals in the Asian Games — 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay — was the next big thing in Indian athletics. But for all the success Ashwini garnered in a short span, the downfall was swift.

The overall picture in Indian athletics is anything but rosy. As many as a dozen contestants from various track and field events have been pulled up for misuse of drugs that enhance their performances.

Tamil Nadu’s promising sprinters Suresh Sathya and Sharadha Narayana’s names too figured in that list of misdemeanours.

Veteran coaches, P. Nagarajan and M.V. Rajasekhar were undivided in their call for eradicating and educating the doping menace at grass-root level. The duo also added that foreign coaches were rather a bane than boon. Point in case is the Ukranian coach Yuri Ogorodnik’s involvement in the dope scandal. In fact, one of the tainted athletes, long jumper Harikrishan Muralidharan, came in the open to reveal Yuri’s hand in doping.

“Doping is like cancer; even if one affected cell is left behind, it can lead to destruction. More than anything, a sincere effort from athletics is needed to fight the doping problem. They should be well-informed about the harmful side-effects these supplements can cause,” said Nagarajan of the St. Joseph’s Prime Sports Academy.

Rajasekhar of the Universal Foundation, who has been in the coaching field for nearly 18 years, added: “Nada has been doing a good job. But they would do well to crack the whip right from the junior national level. Parents should also keep a close tab on their children. Any radical changes should be addressed immediately. The Russians and Ukranians have brought about the downfall of Indian athletics. Knowingly, they administer the intake of banned substances.

“Nonetheless, every athlete should be held responsible when they indulge in this misconduct. They should be punished harshly. Even their jobs should be taken away when found guilty.”

According to Sathya’s coach, M. Riaz, the TN athlete might have been oblivious of his crime. “Sathya trained under me and I am sure he never indulged in any malpractice here. I guess something could have happened at the national camp. At times, the pressure of winning can get to you.

“The camp authorities, however, are washing their hands off the issue and the poor athletes are always left to face the music. The Nada and the Wada should properly underline what kind of food supplements an athlete should take or refrain from. As far as Sathya is concerned, it should not have happened in the first place. He might have unknowingly had an intake of liquid protein. Sathya is mentally very strong and has been training hard recently. I am confident he will put this incident behind and come back fighting,” said Riaz.