Neeraj Chopra inducted into IAAF registered testing pool

Neeraj Chopra, the sensational World Junior javelin champion, has been included in the latest (Sept 21) Registered Testing Pool (RTP) of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

Chopra is the first Indian to be included in the IAAF RTP since 800m runner Tintu Luka and triple jumper Arpinder Singh went out of the list in September, 2015.

Chopra, just 18, became the World Junior champion at Bydgoszcz, Poland, on 23 July this year with a junior world record throw of 86.48m. It was the Indian senior national record as well.

Till the time he nailed the under-20 world title and the world junior record, Chopra had tried to attain the Olympic qualification standard of 83.00m, but in vain. An attempt was made by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to get his name cleared for participation in the Rio Olympics as a special case. (Under-20 and senior athletes use the same javelin weighing 800gm).

However, the IAAF expectedly rejected the request, pointing out that there were other requests also for consideration after the expiry of the qualification deadline on July 11 and it was not possible to entertain any of them. There is no provision for a wild card entry in Olympics.

Chopra has been tipped to become India’s future Olympic champion. At the rate at which he has improved, the Chandigarh youngster surely looks set to scale greater heights.

The ‘whereabouts’ requirements

Being in the IAAF RTP, Chopra will now need to provide his daily ‘whereabouts’ to the IAAF on a quarterly basis. Failure to be present at a designated spot given by the athlete on a particular day for a one-hour period to be available for dope-testing may attract a ‘whereabouts failure’. Three ‘whereabouts failures’ (that may include ‘whereabouts filing failure’ also) can lead to a suspension of two years.

Chopra had been on a three-month training programme, along with a batch of Indian athletes, in Spala, Poland this season while aiming for the Olympic qualification and preparing for the World under-20 Championships. He could not, however, reach the standard for Rio.

The closest that he reached prior to Olympic qualification deadline was the 82.23m (equaling National record) in winning the South Asian Games title in Guwahati in February (Olympic qualification standard 83.00). After that he had marks of 79.54, 79.51, 79.73, 75.52, 77.60, 78.71 and 79.23 (July 10, a day before the OG deadline). He is currently coached by Australian Garry Calvert.

It  was surprising the past year that despite India having been No. 3 in the matter of dope offenders in 2013 and 2014, with athletics in the country topping the lists, with 28 and 29 respectively, the IAAF did not include an Indian athlete in its registered pool. (Russia topped the overall lists in both the years.)

Post-2010 Asian Games the IAAF had placed as many as ten Indian athletes in its registered pool. The list kept changing through subsequent months till in April 2014 all Indians were removed from the list. Tintu Luka, brought in first in March 2012, was brought back along with Arpinder in September 2014.

IAAF tests at least 20 Indians

Despite the apparent leeway given to Indian athletes in the matter of IAAF registered pool (it was always explained that priorities had to lie elsewhere with world’s top-ranked athletes and those who were in the regular watch-list), the IAAF did test a surprisingly large number of (at least) 20 Indian athletes in 2015.

Again, quite surprisingly, the man who topped the IAAF testing numbers happened to be a lesser-known shot putter, Kashish Khanna. A University champion in 2011, Khanna had won the Open title in 2014 apart from coming third in the inter-State meet in 2012. He was tested more than four times by the IAAF last year and he was the lone athlete to fail an IAAF test. He was given a two-year sanction by the National Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (NADDP) for a steroid offence.

Prominent among the others to have been tested up to three times by the IAAF in 2015 were:  Shot putter Inderjeet Singh (now under provisional suspension for a doping offence reported by NADA), walkers Gurmeet Singh, Manish Singh Rawat, Chandan Singh and Baljinder Singh, triple jumper Arpinder Singh, Tintu Luka, steeplechaser Sudha Singh, quarter-milers Debashree Majumdar, Anu Raghavan, Sini Jose, Anju Thomas and Priyanka Mondal, and javelin thrower Annu Rani.

Those who were not tested by the IAAF in out-of-competition tests in 2015 included steeplechaser Lalita Babar, marathon runners O. P. Jaisha and Kavta Raut; sprinters Dutee Chand and Srabani Nanda; quarter-milers Ashwini Akkunji, Priyanka Panwar, Nirmala Sheoran, Jauna Murmu, Anilda Thomas and M. R. Poovamma; triple jumper Renjith Maheswary, long jumpers Kumaravel Premkumar and Ankit Sharma, sprinter Amiya Mallick, discus throwers Seema Antil and Krishna Poonia, and shot putter Manpreet Kaur (Sr).

NADA registered pool

The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) started a ‘whereabouts’-based testing programme in May, 2015 with an initial list of 41 athletes in track and field in its domestic pool. Yet, by May this year NADA found itself stymied in its efforts as a majority of the athletes in its list went abroad for training towards Rio Olympics preparations.

However, NADA managed to bring in charges against three leading athletes this season, with Inderjeet failig an out-of-competition test and sprinter Dharambir Singh and quarter-miler Priyanka Panwar testing positive in competitions.  All three are currently under provisional suspension.

A larger ‘whereabouts’ pool in athletics and closer monitoring should be NADA’s aim in the coming season while the IAAF could be expected to co-ordinate with other agencies testing at remote locations where Indian athletes could be training in the World Championships year.

With a few international statisticians raising doubts about some of the marks achieved by Indian athletes at home and abroad towards Olympic qualification, it is imperative to keep a close watch on anti-doping efforts in the coming season in Indian athletics.