Sunita Rani

Sunita Rani (born 4 December 1979) is an Indian athlete from Punjab who won a gold medal in the 1500 m and a bronze medal in the 5000 m during the 2002 Asian Games. Her time of 4:06.03 in the 1500 metres at the 2002 Asian Games is the current national record. She was awarded Arjuna Award in 1999 and Padma Shri [1] for her achievements.

Career

Sunita hails from Sunam, Punjab and is best known for her performance at the 2002 Asian games, where she won a gold medal in the 1500 m and a bronze medal in the 5000 m races.

Sunita has spoken out about the need for better facilities in order to motivate athletes.[2] She was also working as an Superintendent of Police in Pathankot, Punjab.[3]

Controversy

Sunita Rani was hit with controversy about her performance at the 2002 Asian games, where she won a gold medal in the 1500m and a bronze medal in 5000m, after she tested positive for nandrolone, a banned substance that aids recovery, strength and endurance, in the dope tests. Both her medals were revoked. However, the Indian Olympic Association fought to prove that the doping tests had major procedural irregularities, and that the results were not valid. Rani has categorically maintained that she had not taken any banned substances. She had also cleared the dope test in Delhi, on the eve of the Indian team's departure to Busan.[4]

The Olympic Council of Asia later officially admitted that there had been discrepancies in her dope test. On January 3, 2003, the International Association of Athletics Federations officially cleared her off her doping charges, and reinstated her medals.[5] The Amateur Athletic Federation of India held a 'Restoration of Medals' ceremony on February 4, 2003, to officially return her medals to her.[6]

References
  1. "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  2. Sharda, Deepankar (2 April 2018). "Synthetic track need of the hour for city athletes: Sunita Rani". The Tribune.
  3. "ये लेडी IPS ने एथलीट बनकर पाया पद्मश्री, कभी रिश्तेदार कहते थे लड़कियों का खेलना नहीं है ठीक". Dainik Bhaskar (in Hindi). 30 April 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  4. December 2, SAYANTAN CHAKRAVARTY; December 2, 2002 ISSUE DATE; July 12, 2002UPDATED; Ist, 2012 18:05. "Hope for Sunita Rani as Indian officials press world athletics bodies to clear her name". India Today. Retrieved 27 July 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. "IAAF clears Sunita Rani of doping charges". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  6. "Sunita Rani to get her medals back". Zee News. 4 February 2003. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
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