In India, stampede of athletes in front of anti-doping agents – Libération

The Delhi State Championships turned into a farce: half of the participants left the competition to avoid urine tests. An illustration of the ravages of the use of banned substances in the country.

India is far from being a sporting power: at the Olympic Games, its harvest is limited to thirty-five medals since the country’s independence in 1947. The national sport, cricket, has certainly been excluded from the program since 1900 (it could return to Los Angeles in 2028). But the country stands out in another ranking: that of the number of violations of the rules established by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Its 2020 reportpublished in May, places India second in this “discipline”, all sports combined, behind untouchable Russia.

Behind the smile of Neeraj Chopra, 2023 world champion and 2021 Olympic title holder in the javelin throw, athletics on the subcontinent appears to be plagued by the use of banned substances. The Delhi State Athletics Championships, held from Sunday to Tuesday, showed this to the point of caricature.

Epidemic of cramps

The 100m was contested by only one competitor, the other seven qualifiers having abruptly withdrawn, citing cramps. Same scenario with the under-16 hammer throw: only one candidate was in the running for the final. Another gag? In a junior steeplechase event, a runner increased her speed after crossing the line to escape an anti-doping officer.

An operation by the Indian Anti-Doping Agency (Nada) on Tuesday at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in New Delhi was the cause of the athletes’ stampede. The day before, a video posted on social networks had shown a locker room littered with syringes and boxes of erythropoietin (EPO). The young sprinter Lalit Kumar, 20, found himself alone competing in the 100m. Which he did not officially win: the results are only approved if a minimum of three riders participate in the event.

Diverted medication

On Tuesday, the third and final day of the competition, the number of participants had halved. The secretary of the Delhi Regional Athletics Federation, Sandeep Mehta, however, warned that the agents of the anti-doping body could also test the athletes who evaporated. “We will ban positive athletes and recommend the National Athletics Federation to do the same,” he added.

Numerous doping scandals have recently rocked Indian sport during the Olympic Games, Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games. Some 45 athletes who tested positive have been suspended since the start of the year. Popular weightlifter Sanjita Chanu, a two-time Commonwealth Games champion, received a four-year ban this year after testing positive for drostanolone, an anabolic drug originally used to treat breast cancer.