Govt to investigate Rani's
positive dope test
The Union sports ministry has launched an investigation into the decision to strip leading middle-distance runner Sunita Rani of her Asian Games medals after a positive test for banned drugs.
Rani was stripped of the 1,500 metres gold and 5,000 metres bronze medals she won at last month's games in Busan, South Korea, after testing positive for a metabolite of the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone.
She has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
It will be the third investigation into the affair after the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) exonerated the athlete this week following an internal inquiry.
The AAFI has said it would appeal to the world body IAAF to clear Rani of the doping charges after its investigation blamed the testing procedures at the Busan laboratory.
But a ministry statement said it would also look into the roles of the AAFI and the Sports Authority of India, the state-run agency co-ordinating training and overseas participation of teams.
The SAI, which is conducting its own investigation, also employs coach Renu Kohli, who is Rani's personal trainer.
Shyamsundar Sharma, a senior bureaucrat who was until recently with the sports ministry, and Y K Gupta, a pharmacology professor in the country's premier government medical college in New Delhi, will conduct the investigation.
Rani's positive dope test marred an otherwise good showing by India in Busan and has become a major controversy following allegations of widespread doping among Indian athletes and weightlifters.
The Rani affair came after two male weightlifters were stripped of the medals they won at the Manchester Commonwealth Games this year after being caught for using banned drugs.
Rani, 23, had made a comeback at Busan after being sidelined for nearly two years because of a career-threatening hip injury.
She won a silver medal in the 5,000 metres and a 1,500 metres bronze at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
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Sunita Rani tests positive for Nandrolone
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