Ashwini claims innocence, blames vitamin supplements

New Delhi: Dope tainted Asian Games double gold medallist Ashwini Akkunji today claimed innocence and blamed the vitamin supplements she had consumed on the advise of foreign coach Yuri Ogrodnik as the source of the anabolic steroid found in her body."I am innocent and have never failed a dope test before this. We only took the food supplements recommended by our coach and only after consuming the supplements, we have been tested positive," said Akkunji, who was a member of the 4x400m team that won gold medals at last year's Commonwealth as wellas Asian Games.[caption id="attachment_38103" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="part from Ashwini, Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose are the other members of the 4x400m relay quartet who have tested positive for methandienone. Reuters"][/caption]"It's sad since I made many sacrifices during my career. I have never taken steroids in my entire career. It's not the first time that I have given the dope test. Whenever NADA or WADA had called me, I have given the tests."During the Asian Games, three times we have been called for dope tests and we never failed it. This thing has never happened before. It's really sad that all this has happened to us. We are totally innocent," she added.Ashiwni, who was tested positive for banned anabolic steroid methandienone in an out-of-competition test at NIS Patiala on June 27, was present at the National Dope Testing Laboratory for her B sample test here today.Apart from Ashwini, Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose are the other members of the 4x400m relay quartet who have tested positive for methandienone, while five other athletes, including three more quartermilers — Juana Murmu, Tiana MaryThomas and Priyanka Panwar — have also failed dope tests.PTI