The Hindu : Sport / Weightlifting : Ayurvedic `boost' sought for lifters

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 03, 2005

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Sport - Weightlifting

Ayurvedic `boost' sought for lifters

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Indian Weightlifting Federation has sought the assistance of the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS) to "design" an ayurvedic preparation that could help boost the performance of the weightlifters.

This was revealed by the IWF President, H.J. Dora, in an informal chat with a group of newspersons here on Wednesday. He said that the study carried out by the CCRAS on some members of the Antarctic Expedition in the past had found that certain ayurvedic preparations had helped increase the strength and endurance of the subjects.

The attempt now would be to develop or identify a combination of products that would not come under the `banned substances' listed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), but at the same time would help the lifters enhance their performance.

In order to make sure that the substances do not come under the banned list, tests would be done at the Dope Control Centre (DCC) here to verify whether any preparation contains a prohibited drug. Some tests had already been carried out, Mr. Dora said.

This is not the first time that Indian authorities are trying to resort to ayurvedic support for sportspersons. Between 1999 and 2001, SAI had carried out tests on juniors for a concoction that it helped developed through a private ayurvedic company in Uttar Pradesh. `Robusta', as the

product was called, came in capsule and liquid form and it apparently did not produce the results that SAI was looking for. The project was dropped as quietly as it was started. The ethical question had figured prominently at that time in the discussions that the then Union Health Minister, Dr. C.P. Thakur, had with officials.

It is foolish to believe that herbal medicines would not turn up positives for prohibited drugs. The classic case of Kunjarani Devi turning up positive for stimulant strychnine in the 2001 Asian championships in Korea her subsequent revealation that she had taken Vita-Ex Gold, an ayurvedic medicine, is worth recalling. It so transpired that one of the ingredients in the medicine that Kunjarani took happened to be kuchala and that substance was nothing but strychnine.

It is also a moot point what WADA's stand would be if it comes to know that the DCC, now under accreditation process, is to be used for testing unknown medicines in an effort to help boost performance.

Mr. Dora said that apart from the supplements being provided by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), his federation was also in the process of importing supplements directly from Australia for distribution among the lifters.

The federation has also requested the Union Sports Ministry to import 50 weightlifting sets under the subsidy scheme in order to place them at various centres that would eventually act as nurseries.

Even as there is concern about doping, Mr. Dora could not satisfactorily explain the return of dope-tainted coach Hansa Sharma as the chief coach of the women's team, except to say that there was a paucity of good coaches.

Mr. Dora explained that attempts were being made to bring in former internationals, who might not be qualified coaches. The federation has also written to the International Weighltfing Federation (IWF) seeking a panel of coaches from which the choice of a foreign coach could be made.

Mr. Dora justified the reduction of suspensions for the three woman lifters saying WADA had pointed out that stricter sanctions would go against the Code. Yet, the federation would prospectively implement its Mumbai resolution that called for life-bans on lifters who turned in positives in major multi-discipline games.

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