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Reprieve for Sunita, IOC finds lapses in tests

By V. V. Subrahmanyam & A. Vinod

HYDERABAD Dec. 19. The doping controversy dogging the Indian athlete, Sunita Rani, who was stripped of her Busan Asian Games 1500 metres gold and 5000m bronze medals following a positive dope test, took an interesting turn with the Indian Olympic Association secretary, Randhir Singh, claiming that the International Olympic Committee has decided to ask both the Olympic Council of Asia and the International Amateur Athletics Federation not to pursue the case any further.

Addressing a press conference here today, Mr. Singh, who also holds the office of OCA secretary-general, said the IOC decision was based on a recommendation by its Medical Commission that it had found certain procedural lapses in the tests conducted at the Korean Institute of Medical Sciences, Seoul. Incidentally, the Seoul lab is one among the only five IOC-accredited dope testing laboratories in Asia.

Mr. Singh said the IOC recommendation would be discussed at the OCA executive committee, which is scheduled to meet on January 3, 2003. "We shall take a final decision on the issue after the meeting discusses the whole issue threadbare."

He said that the opinion of the OCA Medical Commission would also be sought before the OCA executive committee meeting. "If Sunita is finally cleared, we shall then return the medals back to her." The IOC Medical Commission, Mr. Singh said, had come to the conclusion on the procedural lapses about the tests in Seoul, at a three-day meeting in Lusanne, Switzerland, from December 7.

Sunita, hailing from Punjab, tested positive for the banned substance, nandrolone, in both the dope tests that she had undergone after winning the 1500m gold in a new meet record and the 5000m bronze. Later, the mandatory B tests also revealed the presence of the banned substance, beyond the permissible levels, in both her urine samples.

Subsequently, the Sushil Salwan Commission appointed by the AAFI had pointed out several procedural lapses in the tests conducted in the Seoul Lab — which had handled all the 800-odd dope tests carried on the participants of the 14th Asian Games. This finding had also prompted the AAFI to clear the athlete of all charges and even to allow her to participate in the ongoing National Games here.

Though she was reported to be here, Sunita's name, however, did not figure in the start lists of both the 1500m and the 5000m.The IOC decision is indeed a reprieve for the athlete who had constantly been denying any malpractice.

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