India stunned by failed dope tests ahead of Games
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India's sports chiefs said on Monday they were shocked at the growing number of dope offenders ahead of next month's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
Four wrestlers, a shot-putter and two swimmers who were all part of India's Games squad have tested positive in recent days for methylhexaneamine, a banned stimulant used widely as a nasal decongestant.
Four others, who were not picked for the October 3-14 Games in the Indian capital, also failed drug tests conducted at the various training camps across the country.
"This is very unfortunate and brings the country a bad name," said Games spokesman Lalit Bhanot. "The government has a zero-tolerance policy towards this."
Officials said they were surprised that the 11 athletes all tested positive for the same drug, which was included in the prohibited list of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) earlier this year.
"The training camps were not held at the same place," said Rahul Bhatnagar, who heads India's National Anti-Doping Agency. "But the authenticity of our testing methods cannot be questioned.
"We have a few more results to come in yet." Two female swimmers, Richa Mishra and Jyotsna Pansare, tested positive on Sunday, two days after three male wrestlers, Rajiv Tomar, Sumit Kumar and Masuam Khatri, female wrestler Gursharanpreet Kaur and male shot-putter Saurav Vij were suspended, pending tests of their 'B' samples.
All seven were due to compete in the Games. Mishra, the best female swimmer at the recent national aquatics championships after winning three individual gold medals, denied any wrongdoing.
"I have been tested several times before in my career and have always returned negative," she told the Indian Express newspaper. "In fact, my father is even willing to spend money to get the test done from a different laboratory abroad."
Doping has afflicted Indian sport over the last decade with weightlifters being the chief culprits. The Indian weightlifting federation was fined $500,000 by the world governing body after six lifters failed dope tests in 2009.
The federation managed to pay only $125,000 and were forced to take an interest-free loan from Games organisers to pay the rest of the fine and ensure their participation in Delhi 2010.
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