India’s The Hindustan Times published a report this month suggesting that doping among young athletes is on the rise, based on numbers from India’s National Anti Doping Agency (NADA).
The main focus of the piece is what the Times calls “habitual dope offenders.” It reports on a newsletter from NADA that reveals several young athletes who have failed doping tests recently: a college-level high-jumper, a teenage shot-putter and a state-level thrower. The report says that of 80-some Indian athletes to fail doping tests last year, 20 of them were high school or college age.
The piece also alleges that NADA has been cutting down its testing numbers, reaching less and less major events. The report names several key events with what it claims are low doping sample collection numbers. Among them are the All India Police Volleyball cluster championship (where it says only five urine samples were collected by NADA), the All India Police hockey championship (where it says only 4 samples were taken) and the junior world hockey cup (where it claims only 12 players were subjected to anti-doping tests).
With doping continuing to play a major role in the storylines of swimming moving forward (including a few of the most-talked-about stories of the 2016 Rio Olympics), it’s worth keeping an eye on similar reports from other nations to see if doping is truly seeping from sports’ highest levels into the high school, college and age group realms.
Nearly got a heart attack remembering the time when we were wondering if the Chinese could even swim at all, then they came along and took on Egerszegi in Rome.
Indiana*
India* – as in the country in Central Asia.
My fault. That’s what I get for not reading closely.
Let me start by saying: I love and respect all my fellow swimmers. I have absolutely no proof of anyone cheating or even rumors.
But let’s not be naive. Once you start putting money into 14 year olds (Michael Andrew going pro), it is only a question of time until someone with no scruples puts a 10 year old on EPO or something like that. Money corrupts. Many parents will do bad things to get a scholarship, sponsor or attention. Heck, I would bet that some masters swimmers are on the juice and all they can get is attention.
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