On her shoulders

Damaged by doping revelations, India's weightlifting contingent at the Olympics will number just one: Laishram Monika Devi.

There is not much that emerges from the corridors of the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) today. Even as the name of the sole Indian contender — Laishram Monika Devi — was announced, the headlines were dominated by reports of bribery allegations against the IWF general secretary Squadron Leader (retd) B R Gulati.

The country’s participation in weightlifting at the Olympics dates back to 1936 in Berlin, where India’s Weik Zaw stood 15th in the 75 kg category. Though not managing much success in the Olympics, male Indian lifters intermittently won medals at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the World Championships.

But it was the women who stole the thunder in 2000 at Sydney. For the first time, women lifters were allowed to participate in the Olympics. India’s experienced campaigners, who had tasted success since 1989 at various competitions, peaked with Karnam Malleswari’s bronze medal.

By the time the next games came round, at Athens in 2004, the story took a sour turn, as Sanamacha Chanu and Pratima Kumar tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. They were followed by B Prameela Valli, Sailaja Pujari, Edwin Raju and Tejinder Singh failing in the 2006 Commonwealth Games at Melbourne. The International Weightlifting Federation took cognisance of the events and imposed two one-year bans on the Indian federation.

“It is a system of the federation that allocates berths at the games based on the team’s ranking. We suffered because of the bans and, further, this time the 2007 World Championships was included in the rankings for the berths. We missed that championship. Thus Devi is our only entry, as she is our best candidate,” says the former general secretary of the IWF, Balbir Singh Bhatia, a former lifter himself. Bhatia, who was in charge during the ban period, resigned in April 2008 as doping revelations at the national level refused to go away.

Devi won the silver medal in the women’s 69 kg category at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. But her silver and two bronzes at the Asian Championships in Japan in April-May 2008 were pivotal in booking an Olympic berth for India.

Things came to a head when Devi, with a clean drugs record till date, was asked to attend two selection trials in Pune and Bangalore and go head-to-head with Shailaja Puri, who has previously tested positive three times for performance-enhancing drugs. Devi was chosen by the selection panel, but allegations, not particularly attributed to anyone, flew that Gulati had accepted a “bribe” of Rs 5 lakh to favour Puri.

Both Harbhajan Singh, president of the IWF, and Gulati say the controversy is only because there is a single berth and the loser “could not” come to terms with not making the grade. They further argue that Puri’s past misdemeanors count against her, and they don’t want to take the chance of her testing positive again.

Taking a view from the outside, Bhatia says the events during the selection trials were “piercing and sad” and admits that the governing body has no control over what individual athletes do. He cites an example during his charge, in 2006, when even though the lifters were cleared in India, they tested positive in Melbourne. “One flight from Delhi to Melbourne. God knows what happened. What can be done?” he asks.

Gulati, though, insists that things are on an “upswing” now. “Such dips happen with every sport and governing body. Greece, whose national sport is weightlifting, are themselves banned from Beijing,” he says. He assures that Devi is being closely monitored and has been subject to three random tests in the last two months. She has been suspended from IWF events to concentrate on training.

There is not much optimism riding on Devi’s performance though. IWF president Singh himself admits that she is not a star like Malleswari, and a “sixth or seventh” finish will be creditable.

Bhatia, meanwhile, feels that India requires at least a decade to catch up with the rest of the world in any Olympic sport except shooting and tennis. He says the era of lifters being raised on “two eggs, chicken and milk” are over. The male lifters are nowhere on the international radar, and Bhatia warns that we will soon lose the edge with women too.

Singh and Gulati differ on the pessimism but agree on the work that needs to be done. “We already have plans beyond Beijing. It is a Long-Term Training Program (LTTP). We have earmarked new coaches and new probables have been selected. We will present them to the sports ministry in the next 10 days,” they say. For now, though, one can only wish that her underdog status brings Devi some luck.