Pratima makes it obvious she has many weights to lift

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Then she pauses for effect and adds: ‘‘Write this. I haven’t mentioned it to anyone yet. He offered us ‘medicine’ for $1,000 each. I refused.’’

Ordered out of the Games village on Independence Day when the test result came in, Pratima, 28, spent three days in Delhi in absolute silence. But ever since her guilt was made public yesterday, she has gone into media overdrive, speaking to anyone who will listen to ‘‘her side’’ of the story.

On the face of it, it is a simple if somewhat fantastic tale that accuses a foreign coach of ‘‘fixing’’ his Indian charges so that a girl from his own country could win a medal. But when questioned closely about some aspects that don’t add up, this woman from Steel City Bokaro gets slightly aggressive and says: ‘‘Why would I want to do this to myself? Phir To Mujhe Paagal Karaar Kar Deejiye (Then declare me mad).’’

She repeats this several times, like an article of faith. This, and the fact that she actually cleared a dope test in India just before she left for the Games. Pratima would have made a good lawyer. She argues that she has been in the sport for 10 years and never tested positive for drugs before. Like everyone in the business, she says she knows about drugs, she knows that several Indian weightlifters have been busted in the past and she says she knows it is a mug’s game. Eventually, you get caught.

‘‘These were my last Olympic Games. I trained 10 years for them. After these Games, I was going to get married and take a break. I have been nominated for the Arjuna Award this year. Why would I want to throw it all away? Unless, you think I am mad,’’ she says. But haven’t athletes done exactly the same thing before? In a sport that is already known for its use of dope, haven’t they risked all for a shot at glory?

	IOA orders probe
			ATHENS: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has set up a commission to enquire into the doping scandal. ‘‘If we find that coaches and team officials are also guilty, we will sack them too,’’ said Suresh Kalmadi, president, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Friday. Story continues below this ad

Pratima stiffens at the suggestion and points again to the mess in Minsk where she went for a 45-day camp along with Karnam Malleswari, Kunjarani Devi and Sanamacha Chanu. She says that Malleswari had been enthusiastic about the camp. ‘‘After all, she had trained in Belarus before and won a bronze medal at the last Olympics under Taranenko,’’ Pratima points out.

Obviously, they were not in Minsk for its facilities. Pratima says they trained at a basketball court with pathetic equipment alongside Taranenko’s Belarussian charges. She alleges that she was given injections that made her back pain much worse. Why would Taranenko want to do that? ‘‘He wanted to disable me,’’ she says.

But how would that help him? ‘‘It would clear the way for the Belarussian in my weight category,’’ she adds. ‘‘And sure enough the Belarussian girl got a medal.’’

But if Taranenko wanted to cripple her, why offer the mystery ‘‘medicine’’ — obviously a shorthand for drugs? And how does she explain the drugs that showed up in both her sample and her friend Sanamacha’s even though she never paid the $1,000? Again, Pratima points to ‘‘shadyantra’’ — a conspiracy. She does not explain why the same coach who helped Malleswari win a bronze during the last Games would now want to sabotage the chances of the Indian team.

Her voice chokes as she describes how Pal Singh Sandhu, the Indian coach, handed her air-tickets and told her to take the flight back to India on her own. She was told someone would meet her at the airport in Delhi, but no one did. ‘‘Sandhu was the coach when so many lifters were caught for doping last year,’’ she said. ‘‘They were all suspended but he is still around.’’

As her name is added to that list, she says she feels betrayed and offers another sound bite. ‘‘It is not just Pratima who was thrown out but India that lost a medal.’’

Why should that bother the international dope-busters who will sit on judgement in her case?

Finaly, she speaks her mind. ‘‘I will be happy if India listens,’’ she says. ‘‘I was nominated for an Arjuna Award for the performances I had last year. Why should this conspiracy deny me that honour?’’