BackRunning on willpower
Running on willpower
Premium4X400m sprinters Sini Jose (left) and Mandeep Kaur train at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala. Photograph by Pradeep Gaur/Mint
Right next to the track and field ground at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose are practising shuttle sprints on a well-tended lawn. Clad in black training gear, Mandeep and Jose time each other’s runs, perform agility drills in unison, and help each other stretch. Then they head to the tiny weight-training room across the street. Mandeep and Jose load up the barbells with weights, watch each other’s form, and help each other load and unload the barbells at the end of each set.
2011 was a turbulent year for Mandeep, Jose and their sprint teammates.
In 2010, Mandeep, Jose, Manjeet Kaur and Ashwini Akkunji revived interest in Indian athletics with a spectacular win in the 4x400m race at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, and then again at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. Not since P.T. Usha’s haul of four gold medals at the 1986 Asian Games had there been such excitement around Indian athletes. The joy was shortlived—in out-of-competition tests in May, conducted by the International Association of Athletics Federations, Mandeep tested positive for the banned substances stanozolol and epimethandiol. Soon after, in tests conducted by India’s National Anti-Doping Agency (Nada), Jose and Akkunji also tested positive. The media went into a frenzy; the athletes, who claimed they were innocent and that a legal supplement they were taking was tainted, were suspended.
“When this scandal started, we felt that our lives had come to a crashing halt," Mandeep says after her practice session. “We spent our days listlessly and with nothing to do but think about how bleak our future looked. We went home, cried a lot."
But by August, three months after they tested positive, Mandeep and Jose had decided to fight the feeling of helplessness and depression. At one of the hearings for the case in Delhi, they spoke to each other about getting back to training together instead of going back home.
“It just felt natural," says Jose, “and the moment we spoke about it, we knew it was the right thing to do. We did not worry about funds or coaching."
The duo was joined by Tiana Mary Thomas, yet another sprinter who was caught in the doping net, and the three of them decided to rent an apartment close to NIS, Patiala, and seek permission to use the grounds for personal practice. Though it was kept under wraps, coaches and administrators decided to let the sprinters use some of the facilities at NIS out of goodwill and solidarity.
“The moment we got back to training, the depression lifted," Mandeep says. “It felt like we could breathe again. We told ourselves the verdict will go our way, and that we will even make it to the (2012) Olympics."
The three sprinters, now without a coach, decided to follow the same routine that had been prepared for them by their former Ukrainian coach Yuri Ogorodnik, who was fired right after the doping results came out.
“We’ve put up the entire year’s training schedule on the wall of our apartment," Jose says, “and we are following it one step at a time."
The schedule is designed to make them peak right before the 2012 Olympics in London, and at the moment, their focus is on strength and conditioning—10km endurance runs every day, followed by heavy lifting, and then lots of stretching. They are also rotating food duty, so that every day one of them is responsible for making sure the food is cooked according to the strict diet they have to follow.
“I got fish and lots of spinach for today’s dinner," Jose says.
Despite their optimism and willpower, there is slim hope that the sprinters will actually qualify for the London Olympics. On 23 December, Nada gave its verdict: one-year bans for all six women sprinters who had tested positive. This was in fact a reduced sentence—Nada agreed that the banned substances were taken without the athletes’ knowledge. Since the athletes were already serving a provisional ban since June, they would have to serve six more months—Jose, Mandeep and Thomas will see their bans lifted this June. Akkunji, who tested positive in July, will serve out her suspension till July 2012. Post that, there will be just one qualifying event on 2 August for which the relay team can try out, but Mandeep and Jose also plan to compete at individual qualifying events for the 400m race in July.
“Maybe we won’t make it to the Olympics this year," Mandeep says, “but at least we don’t have to live in shame any more."
rudraneil.s@livemint.com
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