Indian Athletics Thread ...

[Mugundan]

Some astonishing results in Fed Cup athletics particularly in mens long jump. Murli Srishankar broke his own national record with a jump of 8.36M and Jeswin Aldrin went 1 better with a 8.37M. However, Jaswin jump was wind assisted and would not count as national record. Both these marks would have earned them a medal in Tokyo olympics.

Also in womens 400M, a new name Aishwarya Kaila Mishra clocked 51.18 sec which is third best timing by an Indian ever.

This is a CWG and Asian games year. So, such kind of performances usually happen .

It happens in Asian Games/Olympics year. Some of them may hold through Asian Games for India to bag an impressive tally of medals.

[Mugundan]

Priya Mohan kept out of the national team because she would not train in the camp. I do not know whom to believe because they say that they are regularly testing her and things have been fine.

Athletes who train outside camps, their coaches etc often argue they are being tested "regularly". This is just a boast. Even the top athletes who are in NADA's Registered Testing Pool (RTP) are not tested regularly, either because of resource crunch, lazy approach, or collusion!
Having said that the belief/argument that athletes who are in the camp are tested regularly and thus do not indulge in doping practices is ill-founded. Almost everyone dopes especially when they could be away from the gaze of testers.

[prasen9]

Thanks Mugu.

[sameerph]

Some astonishing results in Fed Cup athletics particularly in mens long jump. Murli Srishankar broke his own national record with a jump of 8.36M and Jeswin Aldrin went 1 better with a 8.37M. However, Jaswin jump was wind assisted and would not count as national record. Both these marks would have earned them a medal in Tokyo olympics.

Also in womens 400M, a new name Aishwarya Kaila Mishra clocked 51.18 sec which is third best timing by an Indian ever.

This is a CWG and Asian games year. So, such kind of performances usually happen .

It happens in Asian Games/Olympics year. Some of them may hold through Asian Games for India to bag an impressive tally of medals.

Last Asiad, we had an impressive tally of 20 medals with 8 golds in Athletucs.The way I see the timings and distances being achieved at this Federation cup, we may exceed that in this Asiad.

[prasen9]

So, how are they managing to dope and not get caught? Ok, in India, we do not have a strict regime of checking. But, they will be tested in the international tournaments. They stop doping in time such that it is not in their body but the muscles, etc. still have the power when they compete?

[arjun2761]

With the disclaimer that I know nothing about this area, but stuff that helps you build strength and muscles can likely be maintained for some time with conventional work outs and help improve performance even after the drugs are not detectible. Over time, the performance will drop if the conventional work outs can't maintain the strength and muscles. On the other hand, drugs which help short term performance (e.g., stimulants) will have no effect once the doping is stopped.

[prasen9]

Right. Thanks.

What would be interesting if the Asian Federation could test samples in future years and catch the cheats. The idea is as follows. Say now, the conventional wisdom is that if you stop three months earlier, you still have enough muscles to give you some boost and the levels are low such that they cannot be detected. However, with tomorrow's technology, maybe traces that are below the level that cannot be detected today can be detected. In this case, the athlete had to perhaps stop six months earlier but did not based on conventional wisdom of today. So, perhaps in the future when tests become much more sensitive, we can catch the cheats?

[SaniaFan]

I believe this also used and that is how many Olympians are stripped of ther medal upto 7year( or 10year?) later.

[Mugundan]

Good doping is all about consuming banned substances and enhancing performance but at the same time ensuring that you don't get caught. It is not easy to execute but the "best" of them do succeed! They tend to take the stuff during off-season period, make sure there is a gradual tapering off without losing much of what had been gained and then go into competition. Out-of-competition testing thus becomes crucial. Even there it depends on how testers keep track of athletes. That's why they have Registered Testing Pool (RTP) where an athlete has to give his/her whereabouts on a quarterly basis and also give an hour slot every day of the year where he/she would be available for testing. It could be home, training ground etc. If the athlete is not there a whereabouts failure is recorded. Three such might attract a two-year suspension.
In India, NADA does have an RTP. But testing frequency is poor. If athletes go abroad, it is as good as no testing at all unless an international agency surprises them with a test.
International Federations have their own testing pools. At present the World Athletics RTP has two Indians, Neeraj Chopra and Kamalpreet Kaur. If they do include more Indians in that pool in the coming weeks, it would be a setback for Indian athletics!!
Athletes, at least those who have the support to carry out systematic doping, ensure that they enter competitions "clean". Yet accidents may happen. Steroids can remain in the body for weeks or months depending on the route through which they are administered and/or dosages. They say the effects of steroids may remain in the body for months or years (Prasen).
As SaniaFan explained, since the major breakthrough with Russian samples based on new technology and better detection methods, the authorities have started re-testing samples after a few years. A large number of athletes have been caught through retests from Beijing and London Olympics. There is a statute of limitation as far as going back is concerned. Beijing was over in 2016, London in 2020. From 2015 onwards the eight-year limitation has been extended to ten. Thus Rio can be tested up to 2026, Tokyo 2031.
Collusion can happen in anti-doping efforts. Bribery, official collusion through Govt agencies, tipping off etc is possible. An agency may target the "right athlete" at the right time, may not do so and go for someone who is an also-ran. Just making up numbers will never help, targeted testing is the key.

[sameerph]

Thanks, Mugu for this insightful view.

This is article on one of the foreign coaches working on Indian athletes-

India is a sleeping giant in athletics, says James Hillier

This kind of initiatives by private and government sectors should really help push up the level of Indian sports particularly those like Athletics which does not require too many resources. I am sure we will have world class talent in at least some of the events. Hope that gets a boost with good coaching from abroad.

[prasen9]

I believe this also used and that is how many Olympians are stripped of ther medal upto 7year( or 10year?) later.

Yes, I know it is used by the IOC. I was wondering if the Asiad people do it too. They should. Or hopefully will.

[Mugundan]

Thanks, Mugu for this insightful view.

This is article on one of the foreign coaches working on Indian athletes-

India is a sleeping giant in athletics, says James Hillier

This kind of initiatives by private and government sectors should really help push up the level of Indian sports particularly those like Athletics which does not require too many resources. I am sure we will have world class talent in at least some of the events. Hope that gets a boost with good coaching from abroad.

"Sleeping gian" is an extreme exaggeration. Often we find such statements, in athletics, football etc. The truth is we are nowhere near world standards in such sports notwithstanding the gold that Neeraj Chopra won in Tokyo.
The gulf at this point looks too much to bridge. Even these two athletes whom the coach has mentioned are far off world standards.
Of late there have been several private initiatives. The biggest is IIS, Viayanagar, Bellary. They have track and field, wrestlers, boxers etc etc. Quite a few of their male long jumpers and triple jumpers have done exceedingly well this season.
I am, however, very sceptical of these athletes maintaining their form up to CWG, World championships etc.

[Mugundan]

I believe this also used and that is how many Olympians are stripped of ther medal upto 7year( or 10year?) later.

Yes, I know it is used by the IOC. I was wondering if the Asiad people do it too. They should. Or hopefully will.

Haven't come across news that OCA has done a few re-tests of samples collected during Asian Games. Yes, they should do it. Quite a number of these organisations have limited funds for anti-doping.

[Mugundan]

Two Kerala triple jumpers crossed 17 metres yesterday with one qualifying for the World championships in Oregon in Aug. This is the first time two Indians have touched 17 in one competition. They were threatening to do so in earlier meets but finally managed only now.
I will take these performances, as usual, only with a pinch (a kilo possibly) of salt!
https://sportstar.thehindu.com/athletic ... 496255.ece

[prasen9]

"Sleeping gian" is an extreme exaggeration.

No, no, it means they took tons of valium and will be sleeping for 50 years from today or more ...