Malleswari says Indian weightlifting will now remain free of dope-taint

Sydney 2000 Olympics bronze medal winner Karnam Malleswari says Indian weightlifting will no longer be tainted with dope-related controversies

Dope has been an inseparable part of Indian weightlifting for quite sometime now.u00a0 Only the number of tainted lifters would keep changing in each tournament much like the weight rings that are replaced before and after every lift. However, all that is about to change, or has already changed, according to former India weightlifter Karnam Malleswari.


HERE SHE GOES! Top Indian weightlifter from All India Police, Monica
Devi in full flight in New Delhi during her 215-kg effort at the selection
trials for October's Commonwealth Games to be held in the Capital.
PIC/Imtiyaz Khan

The 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze medalist, vice president of the newly formed Indian Weightlifting Federation, has taken it upon herself to clean the sport. "Ever since our new body has come into existence, we have sent lifters to a number of competitions like the SAF Games, Asian Junior Championships and World Junior Championships and there has not been a single dope case among them. So this is a great beginning and we want to continue this," Malleswari told MiD DAY on the sidelines of the two-day selection trials for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in New Delhi yesterday.

Without dope, the sky is the limit for Indian weightlifting. "We will be fielding 15 lifters in the New Delhi CWG (eight males and seven females). We are in a position to win 15 medals. Of course, they may not necessarily be all gold. Weightlifting will be a major contributor to India's medals tally in New Delhi and there will not be a single dope case here," she said.

Malleswari (35) explained why the dope issue was so prevalent in the sport. "There are two situations: One, where a lifter is manipulated into taking dope and the other where it is done out of ignorance. I want to eradicate both. But it is not easy because we must understand that most of the girls who take to weightlifting are from very poor backgrounds and are illiterate. Furthermore, they take to the sport at a very young ageu00a0-- 12 to 13 years of age - so they are very immature to understand anything about doping.

"This is where some corrupt coaches take advantage of the situation. With their eyes on the prize money set aside by the government for medal winners, these coaches advise girls wrongly and eventually it is the lifter who is found guilty. The coaches simply put their hands up whenever a doping case surfaces.

"Then there are lifters, who unknowingly take simple medication for cold and cough and innocently get trapped in the dope net. Here is where education is so important," explained the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award-winner.