The big bad world of doping

Vishal Uppal brings in a quick read to satisfy your curiosity on doping in sports

The split-second difference between win and loss has always intimidated athletes in competitive sports. The stamina, perseverance and an ability to hold the nerves in moment of time is a challenge for even the best trained athletes. The guiding emotion to win for the native country is overbearing for the athletes. The same emotion along with ambition to perform better than the competition pushes some athletes to consume substances that improve physical performance. The term doping is not news to anyone. Doping is not a new concept and existed since ancient times. Herbal decoctions, stimulants and nutritional aids existed from time immemorial. The warrior tribes consumed them for physical prowess. Classical medicine systems in India, China and Greece have a repertoire of herbs and salts that enhances performance. Ginseng, Mumijo and many other herbs are known to increase oxygen supply in blood. In modern day doping, steroids and hormones are taken to fuel the muscles. It is not always the athlete's choice to take banned drugs. It is sometimes a systematic plan driven from the government. You will read about the Russian doping scandal and how it turned out as systematic plan. The honest teams relied on nutritional supplementation and equipment tweaking to enhance athlete's performance. However, growing competition made way for corrupt form of achieving the means.

The biggest doping scandal of all time came to light when Yuliya Stepanova, a former Russian athlete revealed the culture of doping in Russia. Upon investigations, it was found that as many as 1400 urine samples of athletes were knowingly destroyed or manipulated to cover up the culture of consuming performance enhancing drugs. The players, coaches and government officials were found party to systematic doping. Russia has had 43 Olympics medals stripped for doping violations. Russian Track and Field Federation was banned from 2016 Rio Olympics and other world championships. Russia was suspended from athletics, weightlifting, paralympic sports but has continued to participate in other sports. IAAF has allowed Russians who have undergone testing by non-Russian agencies to compete as neutral athletes.

The doping scandal had a devastating effect on honest and deserving athletes. Mariya Lasitskene, a Russian High jumper was barred to participate in Rio Olympics. She was ranked World Number One and was considered favorite to win a gold. She has participated under neutral flag as per guidelines of IAAF since then. She won gold in 2017 World Championships. We can expect her to be favorite in Tokyo Olympics.

Athletes come under lens from time to time. Another notorious doping scandal came to light from Tour de France cycling event. Lance Armstrong, infamous for the biggest doping scandal was stripped of his seven titles over drug use. In addition, many winners including Alberto Contador, Floyd Landis, Marco Pantani, Jan Ullrich and Bjarne Riis have been caught in doping scandals. The recent was Chris Froome, a four time winner, was tested positive for double the level of allowable asthma drug in 2017.

There are times when a player can get disqualified for taking medication for a physical ailment. In July 2019, Delhi Capitals (DC) batsman, Prithvi Shaw was suspended for doping violation. He was not allowed to play Indian Premier League T20 eliminator match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SH). The urine sample he gave in February was found to contain Terbutaline. Terbutaline is a prohibited substance in WADA's prohibited list of substances. It was later found that he took Terbutaline as prescription medicine for Respiratory Tract Infection and not as performance enhancing drug. But despite that, he will not be able to play till mid of November.

The stringent guidelines, testing and penalties have deterred athletes to try the prohibited substances. However, doping is going to stay in forms that may not be detectable by tests in future. But in a fair game, an athlete must be honest to withhold his integrity and integrity of the sports.

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The present and future of sports coaching in India

Vishal Uppal assesses the state of coaching in urban and rural India.

The success of a player primarily depends on coaching. A player needs coaching at every stage. A good coach works on multiple aspects. The fitness, diet, technique, execution and strategy required to play a particular sport is devised by a coach. Successful players have publicly admitted the role of their coaches and their coaching. The standard of coaching has drastically risen in last two decades. Coaching is now available at every level. The gradual rise in quality and availability of coaching can be attributed to multiple factors.

The first factor is inspiring performance of Indian sports fraternity on world stage. Indians players are winning medals and are being ranked in top few in certain sports. India is doing exceptionally good in Cricket, Hockey, Badminton, Tennis, Table Tennis, Boxing, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Shooting, Archery, Gymnastics and Athletics. Children as young as five are aspiring to learn and excel in sports. Parents are now seeking services of coaches to train their kids from elementary level. This has opened avenues for coaches. The coaches who worked only in academic institutions now run their sports coaching classes to supplement their income and train the aspirants. The sportsmen who were not able to make it higher levels are now working as full time elementary coaches.

The second factor is availability of sporting infrastructure. The boom in sectors such as Information Technology has brought people in IT hubs. This led to development of condominium complexes. These housing complexes are equipped with basic infrastructure that is helping children work on their basic skills. A good housing complex has swimming pool, badminton court, squash court, volleyball court and many other based on the how premium is the complex. In addition, municipalities in Tier A and Tier B cities in India have developed sports facilities that provide skating rinks, large grounds for hosting cricket and soccer tournaments and indoor halls for practicing badminton and table tennis. These facilities also host summer and winter camps for coaching players. In addition, big sports equipment merchandisers have opened courts in and around malls in Metropolitan cities. Decathlon stores in India have provided courts for practicing basketball, hockey, skating and other popular sports. 

The veteran wrestlers in village gymnasiums are training entrants to compete at village, district and state level. Most wrestling champions are a gift of traditional training methodology where the teacher and pupil share a deep bond. As emphasis on sports is increasing, the villages are churning out sportsmen trained in traditional sports.

The good part is opening up of specialist training academies. These academies are being opened by retired sports personalities and are contributing by training men and women in competitive sports. Some of these academies are meant for training the learners for international level. The Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad is headed by Pullela Gopichand. The academy has produced current and former world number one shuttlers; P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal. The cricket academies like National Cricket Academy headed by Anil Kumble; Vengsarkar Cricket Academy founded by Dilip Vengsarkar; Sehwag Cricket Academy run by Virender Sehwag and many other similar academies are imparting quality coaching in Cricket. However, India is still dependent on foreign coaches and academies in foreign countries for specialized coaching in hockey, tennis, archery and shooting. But as former players are hosting camps and venturing into coaching, the dependence will reduce in coming years.

The future of sports coaching in India is on rise and young men and women can definitely get into it. It is a sunshine sector as Indians are keen to get into sporting careers. The coaching profession has scope for making sustainable income; it also presents an opportunity to serve community and nation and finally it is a profession that brings job satisfaction. It is thrilling to see your students grow and win.

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