Dope shame: Monika out of Olympics

Dope shame: Monika out of Olympics


Weight lifter Monica Devi

India's only weight lifter heading to the Beijing Olympics -- Monika Devi has failed a dope test and has been withdrawn from the Olympics, bringing shame for India, just days before the games.

Monika Devi was to participate in the 69-kg category and had been selected to go to Beijing, edging out veteran lifter -- Shailaja Pujari -- in last month's trials and got the nod for the Olympics from the Indian Weightlifting Federation.

Monika had won silver and a gold medal in the Doha Asian Games in 2006, but her silver and two bronze medals at the Asian Championships in Japan earlier this year were pivotal in booking an Olympic berth for India.

Monica Devi's selection was, however, mired in controversies from the start.

She was asked to go head-to-head with Sailja Pujari, twice, to fight for the lone weightlifting berth from India. Though she managed to nudge Pujari in the trials, there were reports that her selection was finalised on the instance of Government of India, after Pujari was alleged to have bribed the Weightlifting Federation of India secretary -- Baldev Raj Gulati -- to get the nod for Beijing.

The selection of Monica Devi for the lone Olympic berth left Sailja Pujari disgruntled and she showed her displeasure quite openly against the Weightlifting Federation of India officials.

Monica Devi pull-out raises questions

The timing of the decision to pull-out Monica Devi; and the handling of the issue leaves a few unanswered questions.

* If the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) had decided to withdraw her from the contingent, why didn't they announce the decision earlier?

* Indian weight lifters have a dubious past; so why weren't they tested before giving the nod for the Beijing games?

Past controversies surrounding weight lifters

This is not the first time that an Indian weight lifter has been involved in a controversy.

Women lifters 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.

At Athens in 2004, the story took a sour turn. 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.