By NANDAKUMAR MARAR

Winning at the Olympic Games brings with it applause and anxiety. For debutant M M Somaya on the men’s hockey squad at 1980 Moscow, the end of the gold medal match against Spain signalled the beginning of another test, the random dope test.

“Zafar Iqbal and I were asked to give samples for the dope test,” he recalls. “The final was just over and there was joy all around. Both were taken to a room in the stadium, a fridge was opened and we were asked to choose the liquid of our choice.” India had beaten Spain 4-3 in the final.

MM Somaya

Consuming liquids before a urine test is a normal process across sports.

“Since one has perspired so much during the game, it is difficult to pass urine immediately after, so they offer you liquids to consume. I picked out a dark bottle stocked inside, it looked like apple juice. It was actually beer. After giving the sample, I spent anxious moments with Zafar hoping I had not taken anything suspicious accidently which could result in a positive result. Our team had returned to the Village by then and we two were held back. Both tests turned negative and I heaved with relief.”

The midfielder had not let his team down. “I did not get a place in the squad till the last practice game against a Russian Club. From then on, I was played regularly and felt happy that the hard work put in prior to the Olympics at the camp and in training was noticed.”

The debutant was made to share a room with team captain, Vasudevan Baskaran. “The reason was that he could mentor me and also because I had the tendency to wander away on my own and they felt I needed to be minded by a responsible person.”

Elderly captain Vasudevan Baskaran

Boosted by the hockey gold on Olympic debut, Somaya went on to play the next two Games (1984 Los Angeles, 1988 Seoul) and feels happy to have repaid the faith Leslie Claudius, a hockey legend, had in him.“When I was chosen for Moscow the first time, he was one of the selectors. He was one of my favourite players and a person whom I look up to, so I felt happy to have played a part in the gold medal for India at 1980 Moscow.” Incidentally, he led the national squad in Seoul ’88 and four years earlier in LA ‘84, teammate Zafar Iqbal was chosen captain.

Somaya’s senior and Moscow Village roommate, Vasudevan Baskaran was elevated to skipper post for Moscow ‘1980 challenge  after another choice for captaincy, the ace defender Surjit Singh was not named in the final squad. As per reports then, the omission was attributed to disciplinary reasons. A world-class defender and a certainty into any India team when in form, Surjit had reported for the Olympics preparation camp in Bengaluru late. This came to the notice of Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw, who had reached the venue in the capacity as chief of the All India Council of Sports, tasked with overseeing the India preparations.

Legend Manekshaw (l) had a huge impact on Indian hockey

The Field Marshal also spoke to the players and coaching staff. “We were focussed on the hockey part, trying to do everything possible from our side to get into the squad in time for the first Olympics for me. The Field Mashal addressed us, a big name in national history. The memory is like a blur,” said the midfielder, for whom watching athletics live was one of the highlights at Moscow, away from hockey.
“Thanks to Adille Sumariwala (competing in the 100m sprint for India and national champion from Mumbai), we watched Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett and Miruts Yifter (England middle-distance aces and Ethiopian long-distance runner respectively).”

He added: “The athletics programme is rated as the centrepiece at every Games and we were lucky to be at the athletics stadium to watch these great athletes. They stayed in the Olympic Village and we saw them from close during training and moving around.” Coe won the men’s 1500m race, Ovett grabbed gold in men’s 800 to swell England’s medal tally. Yifter was crowned the distance running king at Moscow after golds in 5000 and 10,000 for Ethiopia.