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Like every athlete who gets caught for doping, Joginder Kumar pleaded innocent when his name figured in the list of six wrestlers released on Thursday who had tested positive. Only, in this case, he really was.
Twenty four harrowing hours later, Kumar got the clean chit after it became clear that the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) had goofed up and mentioned the 120kg category Freestyle wrestler's name instead of his namesake Joginder Singh's, the 55kg Greco-Roman grappler who had tested positive.
"I got to know that I was named as one of the wrestlers, who had failed the test, after practice around 5 pm. I knew I hadn't done anything but had to explain a lot to the coaches and my guruji (Capt Chand Roop)," Kumar told The Indian Express.
"I went to the NADA office this morning to find out about it. The official asked my name and date of birth. It was then that I got to know it was Joginder Singh who had tested positive and not me. Bahut rahat mili (It was a huge relief). I thought I had shamed my guruji and the country," he added.
Friday's development also comes as a big relief to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). With NADA's letter mentioning Kumar's name, they had to hurriedly name Praveen, a 96kg wrestler, as Rajiv Tomar's replacement in the 120kg category. In the trials, Kumar had finished second behind Tomar.
"The whole confusion arose with NADA's letter that said it was Joginder from Freestyle team. Now the tension is over for us in the 120 kg category," chief coach Jagmender Singh said.
WFI secretary general Kartar Singh has confirmed that the Delhi wrestler has been included in the team. "We thought both Rajiv and Joginder had failed the test so we had to name Praveen in the team knowing well he fights in 96kg category. But now that the confusion is over. Kumar is in the team for sure," Singh said.
Meanwhile, the federation is pitching in to get the other wrestlers' B samples tested soon. All of them are meeting NADA director general Rahul Bhatnagar on Saturday. "Procedure can take almost 2 months, but we want it to end soon," Singh said. He said that, as per rules, teams can change their entries at the last moment six hours before the weigh-ins. "We don't want to keep our best wrestlers out of the Games. Those who will be cleared should be fighting for the medals," he said.
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