Despite having a population of over a billion people and a pool of talented sportsperson, India’s performance hasn’t been very good at the Olympics. Till date, India only has 28 medals to its name, but if everything goes well, the tally may move up to 29 before the next games at Tokyo in 2020.
Wondering how? Read on.
One of India’s most famous and successful athletes, Anju Bobby George, has asked for an investigation of the long jump event at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, where she earned the 5th place.Â
Anju, along with the two athletes who grabbed the 4th and the 6th spot has alleged that they were cheated out of Olympic medals. The three Russian athletes who earned medals at the event have since failed drug tests.
Tatyana Lebedeva, Irina Meleshina and Tatyana Kotova were the gold, silver and bronze medal winners at the event. Australia’s Bronwyn Thompson and Britain’s Jade Johnson were at the 4th and the 6th places respectively.
Anju, Brownyn and Jade have asked their respective national sports federations to support their cases. The three athletes are also planning to take their case to the International Association of Athletics Federations and the International Olympic Committee.
At the 2004 event, Anju broke the national long jump record with a jump of 6.83m which still stands.
Anju’s husband, Bobby George believes that the doping racket runs deep. Referring to WADA’s allegations on a lab in Moscow, he said.
Citing support from the Athletics Federation of India and the other athletes, Bobby further said,
Let’s hope that the truth sees the day of light in the matter and the athletes earn the medal and respect that they truly deserve.
News Source: The Times of India