Dope doesn't lead to performance, it destroys career, warns Olympic medallist Karnam Malleswari

By Chetan Sharma
New Delhi, April 13 Karnam Malleswari, the first Indian woman to clinch an Olympic medal, on Thursday emphasised the need for anti-doping education among athletes and coaches.

For the record, India ranks very high in doping violations. Recently, the two-time Commonwealth Games champion and Indian weightlifter Sanjita Chanu was handed a four-year ban by India's National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) after she tested positive for banned drugs.

Talking to during the launch of Talent Scouting for the Delhi Sports School here, former weightlifter Malleswari, who is Vice-Chancellor of Delhi Sports University (DSU), too, shared her concern.

"Dope se performance nahi ata, career he barbaad hota hai (Dope doesn't lead to performance, it destroys career). It is a major problem everywhere. I suggest education in this matter is important and athletes and coaches should know about it,' she said.

Malleswari further said the governments (states and centre) are helping athletes in all ways, but believes that still, a lot needs to be done. "We need to build infrastructure and coaches are also required. Governments are doing their job. We have no shortage of talent in India. We just need to guide them well."

'Talent Scouting for the Delhi Sports School'

The Vice-Chancellor of Delhi Sports University (DSU) was also informed about the Delhi Sports Schools initiative.

"DSU has launched its first Delhi Sports School for the academic session 2023-24. Delhi Sports School is Delhi's first fully residential school dedicated to sports with separate accommodation facilities for boys and girls. It aims to facilitate students to achieve the highest level of excellence in their chosen sport and perform at major national and international sporting events.

"It will also ensure holistic development of students including academics alongside sports training. The school will offer world-class training facilities in 10 identified Olympic sports: archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, lawn tennis, table tennis, shooting, swimming, wrestling and weightlifting," she added.

Dr Piyush Jain, National Secretary PEFI (Physical Education Foundation of India), who was also present on the occasion, further elaborated on the programme, saying, "For this academic session (2023-24), the second round of registrations are now open for classes 6th to 9th. Admissions for higher classes will begin from the subsequent academic sessions. In order to identify the most promising young talent from across the country, DSU is organising talent scouting camps in various states of India."

"Students passionate about building a career in sports are encouraged to register for the talent scouting camps on the school's online portal https://dsu.ac.in/registration. Students interested in taking admission to Delhi Sports School will have to go through three rigorous rounds of the admission process, Level 1: Talent scouting camps in various states of India involving various motor ability, speed endurance and agility tests. Shortlisted students will be invited to Level 2. Level 2: Selection Trials in Delhi. Level 3: Selected students from Level 2 will undergo a medical examination which will be followed by final admission."

"Students enrolled in Delhi Sports School will receive high-quality training from highly decorated national and international coaches. The school will feature an in-house sports science facility and athlete monitoring system to enhance the performance of student-athletes based on empirical data and scientific methods," he added.