Mary Kom blames tainted athletes - London will be very tough: Gagan Narang

New Delhi: After badminton star Saina Nehwal, it was boxing champion MC Mary Kom’s turn to say that dope-tainted athletes should partly be blamed for putting their careers in jeopardy.

The five-time world champion, named ‘magnificent Mary’ by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), said on Tuesday that athletes should not avoid taking the responsibility for the doping scandal, which saw top track and field stars facing bans.

“It is sad that some of our best talents have tested positive. But a sportsperson caught for doping cannot be a given a complete clean chit just because he or she took some substances unknowingly,” said Mary Kom on the sidelines of a function in the capital.

“Not everyone can be declared innocent. Every athlete needs to monitor what kind of food supplements is being given to them. One should not consume anything from outside the national camp, where Sports Authority of India (SAI) supplies all the supplements,” said Mary Kom.

The Manipur girl said she had never taken any medicine or food supplement without getting them approved from sports medicine specialist. “All the ingredients of the supplements are generally printed on the packets. One should check them also,” she said.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award winner Gagan Narang is not bothered by the weight of expectations but admitted that the pressure of winning a medal in 2012 London Olympics could be greater after being named for the country’s highest sporting honour.

“It’s an honour and it will motivate me to do better in the upcoming tournaments, including the Olympics, but the pressure could be more. That is inevitable,” Narang said.

Narang missed out on a medal three years ago in Beijing Olympics and it still hurts him, but he is not unduly worried. “I am not bothered. Every Olympics is a huge task, but I am better experienced right now,” he said.

“For any big athlete pressure is inevitable, but the support we got in CWG has made us hand handle pressure better,” he added.

Meanwhile, video analyst, S Ramakrishan, who was part of the Indian cricket team from 2003 to 2007, will be working with Saina to help her improve the game ahead of the 2012 London Olympics. Ramakrishan, better known as Ramki, has been roped in by the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ), a non-profit venture that supports Saina and other medal prospects for the London Games. Ramakrishan will be working on Saina’s game along with her coach Pullela Gopichand with help of latest softwares.

After devoting the first six months to collecting data and other informations on Saina and her opponents, Ramakrishan said the shuttler will be put on the simulator in the latter half of her preparation for the quadrennial extravaganza.