Rani puts the past behind her to run again

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post/Sidoarjo, East Java

Indian athlete Sunita Rani has dealt with more than her fair share of setbacks in recent years.

First there was a humiliating doping scandal at the 2002 Asian Games; she was stripped of her 1,500 meters gold and 5,000 meters bronze from Busan before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) cleared her name.

She then suffered a right foot injury that has taken time to heal and kept her off the track for two years.

Now, Rani is returning to international competition in the Asian Grand Prix 2005 in Sidoarjo, East Java, the first leg of three in the regional series.

The 25 year old police officer looked fit and relaxed during a Friday morning training session.

"I don't feel very good but I'm also not feeling so bad for this grand prix," she told reporters.

"My injury doesn't hurt me anymore, but I still have to get myself in shape to achieve my best."

She qualified for the series with a time of 4:20.61, far below her best of 4:06.03 from Busan.

"I have tough competitors from Kazakhstan (Svetlana Lukasheva) and from Kyrgyzstan (Tatiana Borasova). I have met Svetlana several times and she is a very good runner."

She is not putting too much pressure on herself.

"I will try to win this event, but my goal is to reach my best form next year at the Asian Games."

Born in Sunam in Punjab, Rani started competitive running at the age of 14 and grabbed 11th position in the 1998 World Junior Championship in the 5,000 meters.

She quickly established herself as one of the top middle distance runners in the region when she took the 5,000 meters silver and 1,500 bronze at the 1998 Asian Games.

Ahead in the final stretch in the 5,000 meters, she was edged in the dying meters by Indonesia's Supriati Sutono.

"I still remember Supriati very well because she defeated me in a very tight race in 1998," she said. "I thought at the time I had won, but the fact was that I lost."

Her promising career was overshadowed by the doping scandal, when she was accused of taking a derivative of the steroid nandrolone.

After the Athletics Association of India protested, pointing to huge discrepancies in readings of urine samples at the Asiad, the IOC ruled in Rani's favor.

In February 2003, she was given her medals back in a special ceremony, with officials asking her to "forget" her three-month ordeal, Express India reported,

At the time, after being dissected by the media and condemned by fellow athletes, that advice was easier said than done.

Today, Rani has put it behind her to focus on running.

"It is all over," she said of the scandal.

Rani's coach Hartit Singh said her achievements were outstanding among Indian sportswomen, and praised her strength in facing her hardships.

"She is making good progress over time. I believe she will reach her top performance next year in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games," he said.