By Florine Roche
Jul 12: The symbol of India's rising might in track and field, Ashwini Akkunji’s fall from grace has been much swifter than her rise to fame in the national sporting scene following her stupendous performances in Commonwealth games and the Asiad. Now that the B samples of Ashwini and 400m runner Priyanka Panwar have also been tested positive, the doping scandal has become nothing but a national and international shame to the country. With the latest report of her B samples also testing positive for banned anabolic steroids, she faces a ban for two years which means Ashwinis dream of making it to the 2012 London Olympics lay shattered.
It is not just the dreams that lay shattered. The national ignominy, the shame and the humiliation that follows the ban is much thornier to surmount and then there is always the possibility of viewing every future performance of her with suspicion. Corporation Bank has already withdrawn all the ads featuring Ashwini as its brand ambassador saying her continuance would bring disrepute to the bank.
So far eight high profile athletes including 3 members of relay team Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose and Ashwini, have tested positive for banned drugs, thus casting a cloud over the country’s Olympic ambitions. Just a few months back the lanky athlete Ashwini was acclaimed as the golden girl of Dakshina Kannada after winning gold medals in quick succession at Commonwealth and Asiad. And now she has fallen from grace within no time. From day one, when the doping scandal broke out, Ashwini has claimed her virtuousness and has shifted the entire blame on the Ukrainian coach under who she was training until she was sacked.
Doubts are being raised by many Indian sports legends, former athletes and coaches about Ashwini’s innocence in this fiasco. Is she as innocent as she claims to be or was she and other athletes were in know of the rampant use of drugs by Indian athletes especially those from the track and field is the question that every seems to ask. Unfortunately, the response from those who have been and who are still in the field as coaches has been on the negative as far as Ashwini’s innocence is concerned. Sports Authority of Karnataka appointed coach of Dakshina Kannada Vasanth Kumar, who has been training young athletes and has been the coach for many national sports camps pooh-poohs her claim of innocence saying “an athlete who has trained at prestigious Tata Sports Academy in Ranchi and who has been in the national sports camp for so many years cannot fool people any longer with her holier than though statements. Training of athletes at Academy or camps involves both oral and theoretical knowledge of the sport, the food, vitamins, supplements and every other aspect having a bearing on the performance. So it is totally fallacious to say she is innocent”.
In fact, in December 2010, athletic legend P T Usha, had expressed surprise over the sudden improvement shown by Ashwini to win the 400 m hurdles at the Asian games. But no one paid much heed to her comments and many attributed her comments to jealousy. Usha had cast aspersions on her meteoric improvement in performance following her brief training stint in Ukraine, a place well-known for doping by athletes. But those in the athletic field did have an inclination that something was seriously wrong somewhere to the extent it is now exposed but did not voice their opinion for fear of accusing of the proverbial case of sour grapes. It may be recalled that Ashwini had clocked 56.15 seconds to win the gold at Guangzhou, China from 59 late seconds a few months back. As coach Vasanth Kumar says “at the commonwealth Games Ashwini had clocked 59. 49 seconds. After one month she went to Guangzhou, China and her timings show a remarkable improvement of 4 complete seconds within four months, which is next to impossible in normal circumstances”.
Former Olympian and Arjuna Award winner Vandana Shanbhag has also echoed similar views. “I don’t think Ashwini is as innocent as she claims. For someone who has been in the various training camps cannot feign innocence about drugs blaming it on the supplements or on coaches. She should have known what she has been consuming. If she had doubts she should have sought advice and clarified from competent people”. Vandana further adds “when my former colleagues and I saw these athletes performing at the Commonwealth and then at the Asiad, we knew they would be in trouble sooner or later. During our time we have taken more than a year to improve 0 .001 second of our timing. To have 4 complete seconds of improvement within a few months is impossible for Indian athletes without the use of drugs”.
Another Olympian and Arjuan awardee, our own original golden girl Vandana Rao, concurs with what Shanbhag has said. “It was no doubt shocking for us to know about the doping scandal. But I feel everybody connected with athletics was aware of the happenings. Such remarkable improvement in performance as shown by Ashwini would be very difficult in normal conditions. I was a 400 m runner and I know how strenuous and difficult it is to show even slightest improvement. One needs to put in at least 5 to 6 hours of hard work every day even for microscopic improvement in timings. But if we comment then they say we envy their success and so on. By taking drugs and running and winning medals, these athletes are cheating the people, the government and the nation”. Vandana Rao also claims that no one can force an athlete to consume drugs. “Though it is well known that these days many athletes the world over are taking drugs to improve performances they don’t get caught. Indian athletes do not know how to use them”. On whether Ashwini’s scandal has brought shame to our district Vandana said “I was proud and happy when our girls were winning medals at international meets. I feel bad now because henceforth every other athlete will be viewed with suspicion”.
Arun Rao, Secretary of D K Athletic Association, who is also a coach grooming young talent in Mangalore, feels it is not shocking for the simple reason that everyone was aware of the goings on. “The coaches, athletes, officials and even the government were having clear information about the widespread usage of drugs. It was just waiting to come out and that is why it is not surprising”. Arun Rao opines that it is vicious circle because government puts pressure on the Federation, Federation seeks improvement from coaches and coaches are harried to show better results. Citing the dramatic show of dominance in Olympics by Chiana within 30 years, Arun Rao says “everyone uses drugs and China is a good example of this. Taking drugs is a costly affair which not all athletes can afford. So those who can afford win accolades and others are left in the lurch”. Arun therefore feels that it is not right to blame only the athletes. “The entire system is rotten and has to be cleansed”, he states.
A well known athletics coach who did not want to be identified says the system is decayed and requires a complete overhaul. “Everyone knew the happenings inside and it was an open secret that track and field athletes had the patronage of big names like Lalit Bhanot and Suresh Kalmadi, who are now languishing in jail. They protected the athletes by having their own officials at right places and together they basked in the laurels of the athletes. Now that they are inside the bars, there is no one to protect them and hence the scandal has become public”. He also stated that athletes from other nations take drugs but they mask it so that it cannot be found out in urine or blood samples. It is a matter of concern not only in India but the world over.
This revelation has brought to the fore the claims made by weightlifters like Sathish Rai and others who were caught for doping a few years ago. They had always claimed that track and field athletes get away doing everything illegal and had blamed these high profile officials of doing things clandestinely. But his comments did not elicit any response from anyone then. Now the cat is out of the bag and athletes are finding it convenient to indulge in blame games.
Just yesterday NADA conducted a surprise inspection on Sports Authority of India (South Centre), Bangalore which is the home for many national camps. “When the raid was going on most athletes could be seen running helter-skelter to escape. I do not understand why they have to be on the run if they feel they are clean”, Vasanth Kumar argues.
The athletes seem to have learnt no lesson from the sudden demise of glamour queen of athletics Florence Griffith Joyner of US popularly known as “flo-jo”. There were rumours of her using drugs, with many other athletes claiming that her sudden improvement by more than half a minute within a short span and the dramatic change in her physique could be due to performance enhancing drugs. She still holds the record for women’s 100 meters (10.49) and 200 meters sprint (21.96) even after 23 long years. Though she won laurels and international fame flo jo died suddenly in 1998 at the age of 38, within a decade of her retiring from athletics. Her early retirement also had raised many doubts giving credence to what other athletes had accused her of. Though she is believed to have died due to epileptic seizure her detractors argue that though she failed drug tests, she died due to the repercussions of drug abuse on her body.
Ultimately, it is the athletes who have to take the responsibility for the entire fiasco, now that the scandal has broken out brining discredit to the nation. “It is a national shame and we in the sports field cannot walk holding our head high”, says swimming coach Ramakrishna Rao. It also shows that there is no and should not be short cut for success. Success has to be earned by hard work and honesty.