Straight talk: Ashwini Nachappa says the deterrent for coaches is not harsh enough when it comes to doping — they ‘are never penalised’. | Photo credit: Murali Kumar K
Anju Bobby George was 26 when she created history, winning the long jump bronze at the 2003 World Championships. She went on to claim silver at the 2005 World Athletics Final — upgraded years later to gold after Russian Tatyana Kotova was suspended — which makes the now 47-year-old one of Indian athletics’ most decorated and, more importantly, clean achievers.
For a country that consistently figures in the world’s top-three for doping cases, ironically without the results to show for it, these things matter. And so when Anju, now an administrator, admits it is an immense challenge to ensure young athletes stay clean, one is forced to pay attention.
“The challenge is very different with the new generation. Certain things that I am experiencing now, at the age of 45-46, they are already going through at 20! Honestly, I don’t know what the reason is or even if there is one or a combination of factors — food habits, the environment, social changes or something else,” the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) senior vice-president told The Hindu.
Not enough guidance
Indian athletics has come a long way since Anju’s time. The ease of access to information from across the world means ignorance is no longer an excuse. If anything, there is too much information and not enough guidance to filter the good from the bad.
The AFI has been fairly open to foreign coaches and support staff, and has worked to bring more youngsters into a formal system. The results are showing up only now, none bigger than Neeraj Chopra’s Olympic gold, which broke open the floodgates for Indian athletes dreaming big. Unfortunately, it also fuelled the desperation to make it big, fast.
“During our times, our schedule was simple — train, eat, sleep, repeat. It is not a complaint, we know the world has changed but every coach is concerned about the amount of time kids are spending on other stuff — they are on the phone constantly, which affects rest and sleep cycles.
“To an extent, there is an overload of information. Youngsters want to reach the top very fast, they see others doing it and believe they also have to do it. There is the obvious physical challenge of competing at high levels but that mental pressure is also there. The physiological and biological changes they are facing is different from our times and this is a new challenge,” Anju, who runs the Anju Bobby George Sports Foundation with her husband Bobby, admitted when asked about the doping menace.
Top talent: Ashwini, left, was one of the rare athletes to beat the legendary P.T. Usha, right, in her prime. | Photo credit: The Hindu Archives
No innocent victims
More than a decade before Anju stepped into the spotlight, Ashwini Nachappa earned the sobriquet ‘Indian Flo-Jo’ and comparisons with USA’s Florence Griffith Joyner for both her speed on track and style off it. Ashwini was one of the rare athletes to challenge the legendary P.T. Usha in her prime and beat her on a couple of occasions, including at the 1990 Open Nationals.
Ashwini has been an outlier in the Indian athlete community, often raising her voice against performance enhancers. She agrees with Anju on the information overload, but feels the reasons for an increase in cheating are more complex and “selfish”, with no innocent victims.
“You can say our lives were simple but I believe we were ignorant back then. Now, once you are among the best in the country, you have everyone in your team — physiologist, psychologist, physiotherapist and more. So the information in itself is not bad; it’s how you deal with it that matters,” said Ashwini, who was part of the Clean Sports India foundation but now focuses on her own Sports Foundation and School (KALS) in Coorg.
It is interesting to note that while the two champion athletes agree on both the crux of the problem — incorrect or insufficient guidance — and the reasons for it — increased competition and desperation to succeed — they differ on where the blame lies.
“The problem with youngsters is that they are not mature enough to understand what is right or wrong in the long term. The moment coaches feel the focus is shifting, they have to pitch in and explain the importance of staying on the right track, explain they still have time and don’t need to take shortcuts. But the outside pressure, the social media all exert an influence,” Anju explained.
Her senior disagrees. “I think the coaches’ attitude of winning at any cost is what gets some of the athletes caught at 13-14 years. At that age, your coach is your mentor and being sensitive to these issues solely lies with the coaches. I feel the deterrent is not too harsh now because coaches are never penalised,” said Ashwini.
“At the same time, I blame the athletes for the rot in Indian sports. It’s a selfish world out there, there is no athlete support for fighting it and the biggest names wouldn’t want to be associated with this fight. It’s a ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’ scenario. It’s all about safeguarding self-interest.”
The coach’s role comes under further scrutiny if one considers the fact that Khelo India, the government’s flagship scheme to unearth talent, has had doping cases even at the School Games (12 in 2018), with athletics recording the highest number of positive cases.
There have been 14 cases involving minor athletes in the last one year alone. Interestingly, the AFI has, in its latest executive meeting, decided that coaches of those caught for doping will face similar punishments, including sanctions, to try and stem the rot.
“Khelo India is a great way to encourage sports but there are ills to it, too. The kind of money and recognition doled out, it helps make lives better but what about monitoring? I have an athlete where the mother would be waiting for the money to be deposited rather than worrying about the kid, it’s that deep-rooted. Maybe the government should stop giving so much without checking on the results, there are ways of doing it,” Ashwini suggested.
Incidentally the sports ministry, in March, had declared that medallists at all Khelo India Games, barring the school edition, will be eligible for jobs.
High-flyer: Anju is one of India’s most decorated athletes. Years after retiring, she still holds the national long jump record. | Photo credit: Getty Images
No easy solutions
Both Anju and Ashwini admit it is almost a losing battle. “It’s a problem worldwide and at the highest level, we can try and control it to a certain extent — it can never be completely eliminated. But at the lower levels it is growing rapidly. People want instant results and are willing to risk everything. They reason that ‘if I get caught then it will be the end of my career but if I don’t, I can get everything I want’,” Anju, who still holds the national long jump record, said.
Ashwini is more radical. “The bottom line is, it’s not a clean environment at any level. It’s not that other countries are cleaner — they are just better at masking! I will be slammed for saying this but what the heck, just legalise it and let everyone do it! I feel the authorities have it wrong — they need to work the other way round, getting better at washing away the substances instead of trying to stop their use, because that is not going to happen.”