Walking into a medical store just a kilometre away from the training centre, she purchased a strip of Lasix, containing the diuretic Furosemide which is in the World Anti Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of banned substances. The drug was sold to her without any prescription, with no questions asked.

“I had to lose nine kg in two days because the federation officials informed us late of the trials. I managed to lose seven until the evening of the trials but had to resort to desperate measures to lose the rest,” the wrestler, who did not wish to be identified, told The Indian Express.

This incident, several national-level coaches, administrators and athletes confirmed, was not an isolated case.

‘Insufficient knowledge’

Jagdish Singh, a wrestling coach with Sports Authority of India, Bhiwani said that Lasix has been commonly used for quick weight loss over the last 10 years.

“Use of Lasix by wrestlers has become a common occurrence. Neither the coaches nor the wrestlers have any knowledge of it being a banned substance, and it’s used frequently, especially in national competitions where there are no dope tests,” Jagdish said, adding that players gained temporarily from it, but were almost always adversely affected in the long term.

Furosemide, sold under the brand name Lasix, is a loop diuretic used in treatment of congestive heart failure and edema. It drains water stored in the body through frequent urination, but its unprescribed use can lead to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, while an overdose can cause serious problems ranging from frequent seizures to kidney damage.

Dr Dilip Sarda, president of the city unit of the Indian Medical Association, said the use of Lasix without a prescription was dangerous because of its life-threatening side effects. “Lasix may be a source of temporary weight loss but it causes severe dehydration in the long term. If it is consumed without the doctor’s supervision, it could prove fatal,” he said.

Another coach, Jasvinder Singh from Delhi, also confirmed that Lasix was in common use, “but only by unintelligent wrestlers”.

Satpal Singh, coach of Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar, however, said he had never come across any wrestler using it in his career. “This has never happened in my time. Whenever we are to take tablets of any kind, we always consult a doctor,” he said.

But some officials said they were aware that the use of Lasix was prevalent, and that it was not confined to wrestling alone — it’s popular with weightlifters and other weight-category sports as well. “The use of Lasix is common among weightlifters. They also consume laxatives in order to lose weight as a last resort,” said Suresh Kapare, the vice president of the Maharashtra Weightlifting Federation.