"Imagine another doping case in Beijing after two lifters were caught in 2004 Athens Olympics and the federation has been banned twice in the past. That would have been a huge shame for the country and the image of the sport would have got worse," added the 33-year-old lifter who won a bronze in 2000 Sydney Olympics in 69kg category.
She said in her career spanning 15 years, the results at SAI dope testing laboratory in New Delhi have turned out to be correct on most occasions except before the 2004 Athens Olympics dope shame.
"Many say since it (SAI laboratory in New Delhi) is not WADA-certified, so its results are doubtful. But from 1990 when I started my career till 2004 whoever is cleared from here have no problem in tests conducted outside the country before international competitions," said the lifter who has been decorated with honours ranging from Arjuna Award to Rajiv Khel Ratna and Padam Shri.
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Malleswari is pained by the doping scandals that rocked weightlifting in the country and blamed Indian Federation's shying away from clamping down on the menace with an iron hand as the reason behind them.
Malleswari said the malaise of doping has been a difficult thing to curb as youngsters now want "short cut" to money and fame which was not there ten years back.
"I am pained by what has been happening in the sport. Weightlifting was one sport which brought laurels for the country and weightlifters were respected in my time. But now it is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Earlier when you speak of weightlifting it was about medals but now it is about doping, it is very sad," she said.
Also read: Monika Devi fails test, pulls out of Olympics
Image: Erzsebet Markus of Hungary (Silver medal), Weining Lin of China (Gold) and Karnam Malleswari of India (Bronze) on the
podium after the women's 69kg weightlifting during Sydney 2000.
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