Fresh hope for Sunita Rani
In a new twist to the doping controversy, drug tainted athlete Sunita Rani's fight to prove
her innocence received a shot in the arm after "huge discrepancies" were reportedly found in the amount of a banned substance, nandrolone, in her 'A' and 'B' samples, tested during the Asian Games in Busan.
However, there have been no comments by officials of
the Amateur Athletic Federation of India on the reported
"discrepancy".
"I feel vindicated. I have been saying all along that I
am innocent. I hope I will be cleared of the drug charges
now," the 22-year-old middle distance runner said over
phone from her Sangrur residence reacting to a newspaper
report which quoted some documents to say there was a
huge difference in the nandrolone level in the 'A' and 'B'
samples taken after the 1500 metres race.
Sunita was stripped of her gold and bronze medals after
she tested positive for nandrolone during the Asian
Games. The athlete vehemently denies having taken any
performance-enhancing drugs.
The result of the 'A' sample, taken after the 1500 metres run, shows
nandrolone at 21 nanograms per millilitre whereas in the 'B'
sample it is six -- a variation, which experts say is unheard
of, according to the news report.
"There is a big difference in the first sample taken
after the 1500m run. Unless there is a calculation error, it
is rather unusual," a sports medicine expert said on condition
of anonymity.
"This discrepancy questions the reliability of the
results. Once an error is found, you can always cast
aspersions on the results of the two other samples taken after
the 5000 metres," the expert said.
"Had she not taken part in the 5000m, one could have
really argued her case, showing the big difference in the 'A'
and 'B' samples taken after 1500m."
Sunita also found the discrepancy rather unusual and
believed that it would strengthen her case.
"I have not heard of such variations till date. The
laboratory which conducted the tests is not a local or
district level lab likely to make mistakes. This is an
international level lab.
"For them it is just a change in procedure but my career
is at stake. I cannot fight this alone. I need the cooperation
of everybody," she said.
The Amateur Athletic Federation of India, which constituted a one-man Sushil Salwan enquiry committee to
probe the doping scandal, will, however, wait for the
committee's report before deciding its future course of
action.
"It is premature to comment on newspaper reports. We have
our own enquiry committee and we will wait for the report which
is expected by this week," AAFI secretary Lalit Bhanot said.
Bhanot said the AAFI will go through the report and observations of the enquiry committee and take decisions, taking into account "all aspects of the report".
Related stories:
Sunita Rani has been framed: Milkha Singh
Sikdar lashes out at Sunita Rani
OCA strips Rani of Asiad medals
Rani stripped of Asian Games medals
IOA promises 'strictest' action against Rani
Sunita Rani fails another dope test
Sunita Rani tests positive for Nandrolone
Rani denies having taken banned drug
Sunita Rani's coach denies doping report
Asian Games: The Complete Coverage
