New Delhi: India's sporting icon, 2004 Athens Olympics silver medalist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has a dark secret, a secret that has been hidden for nine years. It is a secret that will shake the very foundations of Indian sport. Rathore, whose medal is universally accepted as the turning point in India's Olympic history, failed a drug test a month before the games began on August 11 2004. Worryingly, this information has been withheld from not just the public, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as well.
As part of his Olympic preparations, Rathore took part in the Asian Clay Shooting Championship in Bangkok from the July 1-10 2004. As expected, he won the individual gold as well as the team gold with Moraad Ali Khan and Ronjan Sodhi as his team-mates. After winning the event, Rathore moved back to Europe to continue his preparations.
On July 30, 2004 Rathore's preparations for the Athens Olympics were shattered when the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) sent a confidential fax to the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), a copy of which is with CNN-IBN. The ISSF informed the then NRAI President Digvijay Singh (who passed away in 2010) that Rathore, then a major in the Indian army, had failed a test for a prohibited substance called Prednisolone which fell under the category of glucocorticosteroids.
With the Olympics just days away, the ISSF asked the NRAI to inform Rathore about the violation and for a statement explaining why a
09:09 PM, May 15, 2013
New Delhi: Indian shooters' disappointing show in the ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning, USA continued as all the participants in the 10-metre Air Pistol men's event crashed out in the qualifying round, with Jitu Rai narrowly missing the final cut. Rai finished 11th with a total score of 579 while Amanpreet Singh finished 17th after shooting 576 over six series. Prakash Nanjappa, who had emerged as India's latest success...
11:59 PM, May 07, 2013
New Delhi: India's pistol shooters competing in the ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning, USA, will be without the services of coach Sayed Wajid Ali as he has been denied visa to travel for the May 4-13 tournament. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) said the US embassy is yet to give a reason for denying the government core-group coach visa. "He has been denied visa, though we don't...
03:48 PM, May 06, 2013
Al Ain (UAE): Indian shooters failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the men's trap event in the ISSF Shotgun World Cup after all of them figured outside the top-6, with Mansher Singh finishing 10th in the qualifiers, here on Thursday. After his impressive display on Wednesday, Mansher could manage 24, 24, 23 to add to his first day's scores of 25 25, which gave him a total of 121....
07:42 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Al Ain, UAE: Veteran Mansher Singh led Indian trap shooters' impressive display as he jointly held the top spot after two rounds in the men's trap qualifying event on the first day of the ISSF Shotgun World Cup here on Wednesday. Mansher shot a perfect 25 each in the two rounds with the remaining three to be held on Thursday. He was sharing the top spot with Slovakia's Marian Kovacocy...
07:38 PM, Apr 17, 2013
New Delhi: Shooter Sanjeev Rajput narrowly missed out on qualification for the finals of the men's 50-metre Rifle 3 Position event after finishing 10th at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea today. Rajput finished 10th after scoring a total of 1144 in the three sections - kneeling, prone and standing. Only the top-8 are entitled to compete in the medal round. Surendra Singh Rathod was placed 17th after he...
02:37 PM, Apr 09, 2013
New Delhi: London Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar could not live up to the billing as he failed to qualify for the finals of the 25-metre rapid fire pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea today. The other two Indians participating in the event, Pemba Tamang and Harpreet Singh, too failed to qualify for the medal round. While Vijay was placed a disappointing 18th in the qualification...
03:54 PM, Apr 08, 2013
New Delhi: The Indian shooting team's campaign in the ISSF Changwon World Cup started on a sour note with all the shooters, including Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, failing to make a mark on the first day of the event in Changwon, Korea on Thursday. Competing in the men's 10-metre air rifle event, Beijing Games gold medal winner Bindra, London Olympian Sanjeep Rajput and Chain Singh -- all failed to...
05:49 PM, Apr 04, 2013
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Ronjan Sodhi will spearhead Indian challenge at the ISSF Shotgun World Cups in Mexico and UAE in March and April. ...
09:47 PM, Feb 12, 2013
New Delhi: London Olympics silver medallist Vijay Kumar has added another feather to his cap as he achieved the world number 2 ranking in the latest list issued by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF). Vijay has 2871 points compared to top-ranked Pupo Leuris' 3690 - he won the gold medal at the Games. Bronze winner Ding Feng of China was fourth with 2699 points, a place behind Russia's Alexei...
11:10 PM, Sep 17, 2012
London: In a shocking incident, the Indian shooting contingent, which is currently in London for the ISSF World Cup, was denied entry into a hotel here on Saturday night that left the players without any accommodation. The hotel authorities asked the rifle and pistol team, which included India's Olympic hopefuls Gagan Narang and Ronjan Sodhi, to leave despite a confirmed room booking at the Grange St Paul hotel, after the...
08:57 AM, Apr 30, 2012
New Delhi: Ace Indian marksman Ronjan Sodhi on Tuesday clinched bronze medal in double trap at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Maribor, Slovenia. Sodhi shot a series of 48, 49, 48 for a total of 145 in the qualification, before compiling 49 in the finals to finish on the podium. Sodhi was tied for the second place but lost to China's Hu Binyuan in shoot-off in which the world...
09:27 AM, Jul 13, 2011
The Indian shooters have alleged that they were harassed by the organisers at ISSF World Cup in Dorset. ...
12:55 PM, May 16, 2010
The Indian shooters have alleged that they were harassed by the organisers at ISSF World Cup in Dorset. ...
11:36 AM, May 16, 2010
The 2010 ISSF World Cup in New Delhi has been cancelled. ...
12:31 PM, Sep 18, 2009
Ace Indian pistol shooter Samresh Jung sealed an Olympic quota place after finishing fourth at the ISSF World Cup. ...
10:04 PM, May 30, 2007
