Neeraj Chopra admite que “el dopaje es un gran problema en la India” y quiere que los entrenadores alejen a los deportistas de él

One of the famous and successful athletes in India, Neeraj Chopra believes there is a massive doping problem in India. The Olympic gold and silver medallist opened up about how a decision to dope can destroy an athlete’s life and why one mustn’t try to take a shortcut to success.

For the unaware, doping is an epidemic in the sporting world. Athletes all over the globe are caught gaining advantage through unconstitutional means to cheat the game. Although not proven, even the reigning world number one in tennis, Jannik Sinner, has an ongoing doping case against him.

The doping epidemic among athletes in India

In India, it’s worse than in most nations. As many as 3865 samples were taken in India by the WADA, which found that 125 of these samples returned as Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs). The report from 2022 showed that only one country had over 100 AAFs; that was India. A 10-year global WADA study also highlighted how India was the second worst country when it came to minors testing positive for doping.

“Nowadays doping is a big problem in India among our athletes. I would like to tell them that once doping is in the mind, it gets hard in the future. They are unable to play at that level. They think that only doping can get them performance, but that is not the truth. It is their hard work and self-belief, proper guidance from the coach will take you forward,” Neeraj told Lallantop.

How doping affects an athlete’s performance and mindset

“Eat well, rest well and work hard. Do everything properly. To tell you the truth, once they dope, the dope test happens, and they get caught. They receive a ban of 2-4 years. There is no life in that. So if you want to play at a good level, the mindset of our athletes needs to be changed,” Neeraj added.

Neeraj Chopra urges coaches to take charge

“I request the coaches to not tell them that doping will help them and keep them far away from it. I feel if this improves, our level of sports will become better. Nowadays what happens is that any kid who is good in sports, reaches a good level and then comes under doping. That is an issue. They also need to eat and drink outside carefully,” the javelin star concluded.