Indian javelin champion and Olympic gold medal winner Neeraj Chopra has provided a direct analysis of the doping epidemic among Indian athletes. In a recent interview, Chopra called for coaches and athletes to adopt a different mindset.
Interestingly, a recent World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) survey found that, in 2022. India had the largest number of drug cheaters worldwide. According to a 10-year global survey, India is the second-worst country for positive doping instances by children.
In a recent interview with Lallantop, Chopra acknowledged that doping has become a major issue among athletes when questioned about the difficulties faced by Indian athletes. He also discussed the detrimental effects of doping and the function of coaches in offering wise counsel.
Chopra added,
“Totally, 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. 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. I request the coaches to not tell them that doping will help them and keep them far away from it.”
Also said
“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.”
