Dope finding on lifter Gustar a mystery: PABBSI

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The stripping of the weightlifting gold medal Gustar Junianto won at the recent Kuala Lumpur SEA Games has left the Indonesian weightlifting community and the sport's governing body, PABBSI, with a mystery to solve.

The 21 year old from Lampung, about 200 kilometers northwest of Jakarta, lifted a total of 285 kilograms to snatch the gold in the 62kg category.

The medal was taken from Gustar after he was found to have consumed nandrolone. He was one of three competitors charged with illegal doping at the SEA Games. The other two were javelin thrower Thirsak Boonjansri and disc thrower Wansawang Sawunde, both from Thailand.

For Indonesia, the doping incident has resulted in a two-year international ban for Gustar and a US$1,000 fine for PABBSI.

Indonesian weightlifting circles have been speculating about how Gustar may have obtained the banned substance.

The initial theory was that the nandrolone might have come from traditional herbal medicine, popularly called jamu.

Gustar admitted to having taken a few jamu medications ahead of his competition. However, tests conducted by his mentor Imron Rosjadi showed that the substance might have been transmitted through other food sources.

This aroused suspicions that the source may have been a bowl of porridge that Lukman, a member of the Indonesian team's coaching staff, gave Gustar just hours before his competition began.

Curious about the possible cause of the doping, Imron conducted his own experiment, in which he had his protege consume the same herbal substance in the same quantity as before. But Gustar's urine, which was tested 10 days later in Jakarta, returned a negative result.

"It's hard to believe. Gustar told me he took his jamu 12 days before the SEA Games. This time, with a period of 10 days between consuming and testing, the result was negative," Imron said.

"It is almost impossible nandrolone is contained in herbal substances," he said, quoting Dr. Carmen Yahya, a National Sports Council (KONI) official who supervises national athletes in relation to doping.

PABBSI has set up a team to investigate the case.

However, the main task ahead is not to test if the porridge contained an illegal substance but first, to uncover whether Lukman did in fact give Gustar the porridge.

Despite Gustar's testimony, Lukman has been adamant that he did not give to the porridge to the lifter. But Imron has accused Lukman of providing inconsistent information.

"He initially confessed but then almost immediately changed his story," he said. Lukman is his former apprentice and was under Imron's guidance for almost 15 years before he moved to South Kalimantan.

"I'm bewildered. I need clarification," Imron said.

PABBSI seems to be throwing its weight behind Lukman, based on statements from executive director Gandrung.

"This case has only arisen because of outside pressures. It shouldn't have come up like this. It should have been resolved after we paid the US$1,000 fine and Gustar began serving his ban," said Gandrung.

"How could anyone believe that I would treat Gustar so badly. I would never do such a thing," Lukman said, as quoted by Gandrung.

When asked if he believed Lukman's claims, Gandrung said: "It does not mean it's true. But he did say that at least once when we met." Gandrung leads the investigating team, which also comprises Sonny Tobing, Dangsina Muluk, Steve Tengko, Sinatra Kaeses and officials from KONI.

He said that the team would start work after Christmas. Asked whether the team's tasks would include verifying Gustar and Lukman's testimonies, he said: "We will sit down together and clarify matters."