NEW DELHI: Anju Bobby George is the epitome of performing at the highest level when we talk about India in athletics. It took India 19 years to win another World Championships medal in track and field, after Anju did it in 2003 with her long-jump bronze. Neeraj Chopra won a silver medal last year. But what pains India's long-jump queen are the short-term gains that young athletes are lured by thereby getting eventually caught in the doping net.
"Doping is a crime. We are trying hard, but are not (being) able to stop (it). NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) is taking a lot of steps, the federation is trying, the government is trying for a non-bailable case (law). But still people are doing that (doping)," the 46-year-old Anju said on the new weekly show - 'TOI Game Changers'.
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In January this year, India's elite sprinter Dutee Chand failed a dope test and was provisionally suspended after some banned anabolic substances were found in her sample in an out-of-competition test. More recently, in July, runners Archana Suseendran and Anjali Devi were also suspended after their urine samples were found to contain banned substances.
"(For) Any substance (found) in our body, we are liable," said Anju. "But the thing is that there are some other chances also. Somebody can put something in your food, mischief can happen. But in most of the cases, they (athletes) are taking themselves," the senior vice-president of the Athletics Federation of India further said on TOI Gamechangers.
Anju, who also runs a foundation and mentors long-jump protege Shaili Singh with help from her husband and coach Robert, said the lure of "short-term gains" is putting kids on the wrong path.
"For some short gains, they are doing this. How much can we teach the kids? If they want to do it, they will do it. But while we (maybe) can't completely stop it, in my opinion, (we should) find the source from where it is coming, stop it from there.
"Now (in the internet age), anybody can order (anything) from anywhere. That is a big challenge."
