"We want to educate the athletes bound for the Olympics Games on the anti-doping rule violations" - PT Usha on IOA to conduct special seminar

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) will host a special seminar for all the core athletes in the country to educate them on the anti-doping rules and prevent any serious cases ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics next year.

This seminar will be conducted in collaboration with the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) with the dates yet to be revealed but reports suggest that it will take place soon in the upcoming months.

IOA president PT Usha stressed the importance of such guidance to avoid any practice that leads to doping.

"We want to educate the athletes bound for the Olympic Games on the anti-doping rule violations to ensure proper compliance during the games," Usha was quoted as saying by ANI. "The IOA have put in place strict anti-doping measures to uphold the integrity of the sports."

The three-time Olympian further directed all the National sporting federations in India to place suitable scheduling in terms of international events in the buildup of the Olympics. Usha added:

"Proper planning is important to ensure all aspects of the preparation are taken care of during the buildup months to the Olympic Games. All the NSF's must have prepared a detailed programme for the international exposure cum competition plan for next year."

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How many Olympics quotas India have secured so far?

India has secured a total of 29 quotas for the Paris Olympics thus far. Shooting leads the charts with 13 berths, while nine track and field athletes have also confirmed their spots for the quadrennial event. Indian men's hockey is the only team to qualify for the Olympics after winning the gold medal at the Asian Games.

Nikhat Zareen (Women's 50kg), Parveen Hooda (Women's 57kg), Preeti Pawar (Women's 54kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (Women's 75kg) have also booked individual quotas in boxing with a podium finish at the Asian Games. Meanwhile, Antim Panghal (Wrestling) and Dhiraj Bommadevara (Recurve Archery) have bagged a lone quota for the country in their respective sports.

It should be noted that the quotas earned in shooting, wrestling and archery are awarded to the NOC (National Olympic Committee). This means the sporting federations of these sports will have the discretion in selection. Usually, all the national federations conduct selection trials after the completion of the qualifying rounds.